Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure
by Halloween Witch
Summary: Everyday a new trainer starts their journey and tries to fight there way to the top and earn the title of 'Pokѐmon Champion'. Eira Helaine is no different, quietly pushing through her fears and problems to make it to the top. But when things start to get a little out of hand and an evil organization starts stealing pokemon and information across the Sinnoh... Full Summery Inside
1. What Do I Want?

_Full Summery: Everyday a new trainer starts their journey and tries to fight there way to the top and earn the title of 'Pokѐmon Champion'. Eira Helaine is no different, quietly pushing through her fears and problems to make it to the top. But when things start to get a little out of hand and an evil organization starts stealing pokemon and information across the Sinnoh region, does Eira stand her ground and fight through, or hide behind her pokemon and wait for the damage to be done?_

 _ **Quick Witch's Note: Now this is going to be a little different then what we're used to! Let's move onto the story!**_

 _Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 1: What Do I Want?_

 **Third Person Point of View:**

"Oh this place is so cool!"

"I know right? You can just feel the spiritual energy flowing off of it!"

"Can we stay for a while?"

"I don't know about that… we should keep looking for Rose."

The group in question was a large, eleven to be exact. They sat in a lush and exquisitely beautiful forest that had thick green leaves of all shapes and sizes. The forest was more like a maze with how thick the tree line was. Adorable pokemon from both grass and normal type seemed to call this place home and were playing around in the thick grass.

The large group of eleven sat at the entrance to a location that seemed to be an old mansion within the forest. It was dark in color; the wood was stained and weathered so much it took a darker hue to it. Even from the outside, the group could feel the souls of those still within it, those that had died. One of the younger girls seemed most interested in this place, a girl in green and black colors.

"Darkness and I can work with this place, talk to the ghosts and the pokemon. I bet we could find out a lot of information about the humans that lived here and help them move on."

"Not to mention," the male at her side took her hand and continued with confidence. "We could stay in the area and keep an eye out for trouble."

"Or maybe another trainer like us will turn up!" Another female grinned with vibrant red hair flowing in the wind.

The young man at her side nodded. "That would be pretty cool."

"I think we should focus on the really awesome topic at hand, as well as some teasing." The eldest female grinned and the male who looked identical to her grimaced. "Oh come on Vince, we've been meaning to have this talk to you for a long time now!"

"Fuck you!"

"Language big brother."

The bronze/ginger haired man touched his shoulder. "Vince, we're just curious, it's not that big of a deal."

"Apparently it is to my bitch of a sister."

"I resent that!"

"Violet! Vince! Stop it!" the blue haired female cried out.

"Gwyn, relax." The red haired male on her right said. "This was bound to happen, even if it wasn't for this subject."

"I still don't get it." The youngest of them all pouted and pulled one the shirt of the male with the yellow and black hat. "Aaron, what's 'gay' mean?"

The male, Aaron sighed. "Vi… help me out here…"

The eldest woman giggled. "That, my dear Levy, is where a male is attracted physically or emotionally, or both, to another male. And only males."

The youngest girl blinked. "Does that mean that they don't like girls? Like hate them?"

"No, they like girls, just not in the same way a daddy and mommy would love each other, do you understand?"

"A bit…"

"I seriously don't get why this matters more then finding Rose right now." Vince cringed and sighed. "So what if I like other dudes, that doesn't make any difference about me!"

"No, but its funny to see the girls get all hot and bothered because they don't even have a remote shot with you anymore." Violet snickered behind her hand and jumped back as her older twin brother threw a fist at her. She continued to laugh regardless.

"UGG!" The man screamed and jumped to his feat, moving away from the group. "I'm done, and I'm outta here!"

The woman chased after him. "Wait Vince! I need to know what you're looking for in a guy to set you up!"

 **Eira's Point of View (Dream):**

 _ **I'm here again…**_ _It was the dark world I dreamed of every now and then. The world around me, everything moved and changed as I took every step. The world itself was cast in a violet, shadowy world. Everything seemed to be covered or made up of a cloud of smoke. I looked around, I took a single step forward and the floating lake upside down above me vanished, but the path leading to it was still there. Floating rocks were the path._

 _I looked down to where I stood before me; I was in the middle of a forest. I slowly let my two feet walk before each other, leading me further in. The area shifted as I did so though, trees would vanish if I got to close, and then reappear as soon as I stepped away. I lost track of where I was easily enough. It got pretty sickening after a while. I held my tongue though as I kept moving deeper and deeper in._

" _Gyaa!" I blinked and turned my head as something cried out and flew past me. It was nothing more then a large shadow, the same one I've always seen, but I don't know what it is… All I could tell was that it had wings and was very fast at flying._

 _It flew down below where I was at. I looked down over the edge of the forest (vanished) that I was in before I saw it, down below, in a mist of shadows and darkness._

 _ **Now how to get down there…**_ _I looked around before I saw a floating rock before me. I jumped over onto it and another one appeared before me. I repeated this process before two appeared on my right, and then a platform appeared. I blinked at it, hopping on, before stepping into the middle. It seemed to work similar to an elevator of sorts, but with land instead._

 _I watched as I was lowered past floor and floor until I was at the apparent bottom where that shadow creature was. I stepped off and slowly made my way towards the shadow creature. I watched as the creature seemed to get bigger and bigger as I got closer. Once I was close enough, I saw the bright red eyes in its skull. They looked at me, silently; before I saw the large wings around it circle around me and pull me in closer._

 _My scream was silent, nothing more then a squeak came out of me. I was pulled into the shadow creature and I was surprised to find warmth, it was warm here, comforting. The beast let out a quiet cry before I looked up at it, the bright red eyes boring into my memory._

" _Who are you?" It was then as I asked that question that I felt the world become foggier then I was used to. I tried to keep looking at the beast, but it cried softly again as I was flushed out of that world, and most likely into my own._

 **Eira's Point of View (Awake):**

I groaned as I sat up in my bed, stretching and looking around before I saw my preppy mother at my side. She must have shaken me awake, and at such a horrid time too. I was so close to finally knowing that beast that I've seen nearly every night as I fall into slumber. I sighed, there was no use arguing about it, I should have expected it from my mother on this sort of a day.

It _was_ after all my thirteenth birthday…

"Oh Eira! Honey, its time to get up! Oh it's your special day!" My mother sat on the end of my bed and gently creased the side of my face with her hand. "I've got your favorite breakfast downstairs, come down and join me once your dressed, alright?"

I nodded to her. My mother took that cue and left me be then, picking herself off my bed and stepping outside my room, closing the door with a light clicking sound. Once she was gone, I sighed and stood up off my bed.

I walked over to my dresser where I'd left out clothes for the day. I found myself a pink skirt that came down to my mid-thigh and a white strapless shirt that I wore under a thin black, button up vest I had. After putting on my pink boots that came up to my knees, I grabbed by two yellow hair clips to pull some of my black, tinted blue, hair out of my face. Before I put on my new hat mother had gotten me, I walked into the bathroom and took care of cleaning up and my essentials before I walked back out and grabbed the pure white hat. It had a bright pink symbol of a pokeball on it. I slipped it on the top of my head and considered myself good before grabbing my cylinder shaped bag and hooking my arm through it and walking down stairs.

"There's my birthday girl!" I saw my mother standing there happily in the doorway. She had brighter hair then my own, a mid-tone blue color with clips in it to hold it back. It looked round on her head, and short, not falling even a centimeter below her ears. She wore her normal clothes of a white shirt and dark blue jeans with her pink apron over the front of herself. I saw she had a bit of a mess on it, probably from making breakfast for me.

Being thirteen now, I was legally old enough to own my own pokemon and travel the world as a trainer. I'd always been excited about that, but I certainly was in no rush. I wanted to enjoy what time I had with my mother, even if I don't speak much.

My hazel eyes glanced at her own and I smiled at her, giving her a polite nod to show I was thankful for this. She knew I didn't care for talking much; I'd been like this for many years. It was no surprise to her after what had taken place when I was a mere child.

"Go ahead and dig in, Parker should be here momentarily, I imagine he'll be eating with us and making mess, so I have the cleaning supplies all ready." I nodded to her and sat down at the table.

I heard a meow to my side and turned to look at who I needed to greet. Mother's prized pokemon, and her close friend and family, Honey, sat next to her. She was a purugly. She loved eating mother's special food during the holidays. Her honey like eyes glanced at me before she turned to her plate on the table, she was treated no differently then family.

I quickly took some food from the table before me and stacked up my own plate. Waffles had been the choice food today, along with extra crispy bacon and a fruit salad.

I'd just grabbed a reasonable amount of food before I heard the front door slam open. My mother and I both sighed. Another repair job for the wall and I could already imagine the hole there that we'd just repaired the last time my best friend barged into our home.

"Good morning Parker, come in and eat. We were just getting started!" My mother hid her anger behind a face of kindness, but she'd get back at Parker later on, when he wasn't expecting it. Either that, or because it's my special day, she's letting him off the hook.

"Thanks Mrs. Helaine!" Parker Demeet strode right in and took his spot across from me. He grinned, his white teeth glittering. Parker, my childhood best friend, was an overly energetic person who was always running around the region. His bright blond hair curled around his face as well as stuck out in places. His bright topaz eyes would hold my gaze well, for the few seconds that he would be still to look at me. His pale white skin matched the white of his white and orange strapped shirt. Blue jeans covered his legs and his favorite brown boots covered his feet. His green scarf I'd given him was wrapped around his neck and a brown side bag he held over his shoulder was on him.

"This looks amazing! And happy birthday Eira!" My best friend grinned at me and I smiled back at him. "Now that you're thirteen too, we can get pokemon finally! We can travel!"

"Oh that's right baby, and it would do you good to get out of our tiny little town." My mother patted my shoulder and I nodded to her. It would be good to travel and leave for a while. The small town we've lived in for many years now wasn't doing much for me, I mean, don't get me wrong, I loved how quiet and peaceful it was, and how easy it was to get lost in my own thoughts, but like any child my age, I yearned to travel.

"We should travel to the next door town and ask the professor there to give us pokemon!" Parker exclaimed and bolted from his seat, a mouth full of food which my mother snorted at.

"Parker, sit and eat your food." He plopped back down and shied away from my mother's harsh gaze. Her spoon that she's used to cook with, now clean in her hands, was ready to slam down on his head if he did anything out of line. Our mothers were so close, they both raised us and if we did anything out of line, we would be corrected, even by the other mother. Parker's mother, Cordelia, never had to correct me, but my mother, Joey, always had to correct Parker. I learn all the mistakes in the world from Parker, and it keeps me out of trouble by just watching him and how both mothers react to him.

"But still, I think that would be a good idea, other then the fact you'd be traveling alone out there." My mother shook her head as she sat down with us at breakfast. "If the pokemon in this area weren't so prone to attack, I'd say go. Those grassy areas are filled with those little suckers hiding away. I don't want or need you two getting hurt."

"If you're that worried, could we take Honey with us?" Parker questioned, looking at the feline next to me. Honey snorted at him and stuck up her tail before jumping into my lap and curling up as I ate. I didn't move as the pokemon got comfortable.

"Honey wouldn't go with you even if Eira could bribe her, and that's no fair to her." My mother sighed and placed her hands on her hips. "Just wait until later tonight and I'll take you over with Honey, okay? But there are a few things I need to get together for Eira's party tonight."

"Awe…" Parker huffed and crossed his arms, which got him a good thwack on the head by my mother's favorite spoon. She already split it over his head, she was going to loose it at the rate they were going.

"Oww! Eira! Your mother's abusing me!" Parker howled as my mother leapt after him and continued to hit him. I just giggled at the scene before me while Honey laughed on my lap.

"Yes! We did it!" I blinked in surprise as my mother and Parker stopped their fight and grinned at me. "We got you to laugh!"

"That's the best thing I could ask for today." I saw a tear sneak past my mother's eyes. "Oh Eira, its good to hear you laugh and see a smile on your face, honey."

I nodded to my mother and picked myself up off the chair. Honey wasn't pleased that she lost her warm and soft seat, but she got over it as I made my way over to my mother and hugged her. The woman wasn't much taller then myself, and I still had a bit of growing left to do.

"Group hug!" Parker jumped in behind me and hugged me as well and I soon felt a warm body against my leg. Honey was wrapping her's down at my feet. I smiled at the three of them and how they made me feel, warm, whole. I loved these feelings…

"Hey, let's head out for a bit Eira!" Parker was quick to fly to the door just as fast as he'd entered. "Eira! If you're not at the north end of town in ten I'm fining you one million!"

He was gone then; his plate was empty, like he hadn't even been here. My mother and I both sighed.

"Go on after him Eira baby. I'll see you later this afternoon for the party with Cordelia." I nodded to her and slowly made my way outside. After closing the door to my home that I'd grown up in, my eyes trailed to the town before me. I lived in the town called Twinleaf. It was called this due to some trees that grow in the area that have that distinct characteristic of twin leaves. The town was more then green, we lived in a colder section of the region, soon we would have to bring out our warmer clothes. I could see to just the side of me that we already had snow beginning to pile up against the dark green color. It was technically fall, but colder temperatures suddenly hit us and the leaves had hardly had time to change and fall. We'd be seeing it happen soon enough.

The town itself was small, only residents lived here. Quite a few houses were placed all over the dark, grassy fields and hills. A small breeze blew by me and I stopped to feel it against my skin. It was brisk, chilly, enough to bring chills to my spine, but it felt good compared to my mother's warm house from all her cooking, which made it feel like an oven.

I was glad that Parker demanded I go out for a bit. It felt good…

"Eira! Over here!" I looked to see my best friend and the exit of our town. My eyes widened and I rushed toward him as I saw him next to the patches of grass on route two-oh-one. I watched him worriedly as he grinned at me.

"Alright, let's head to Professor Rowan's place in Sandgem Town!" He grinned at me. "We'll be fine! We just gotta run really quickly through the grass so the pokemon can't keep up with us!"

I shook my head vigorously no, but Parker wasn't listening to me. He backed up from the grass and was preparing himself to jump into it and run. Just as he was about to run, I rushed up to him and held him back with my own body. Parker pushed against me, but I refused to budge, this was honestly the stupidest thing he's ever done.

"Let go Eira! I'll be fine!" Parker started to push harder, and I was falling weak compared to him. I had to plant my feet and try really hard, but Parker's determination was just too strong. He kept pushing me back and I was almost to the grass and I saw the glowing little eyes from under the thick layers of tall grass. I knew they were there, and Parker didn't.

"STOP!" Parker was startled enough where I was able to push him back and onto the ground and stop him from heading into the grass. Thankfully, I landed on top of Parker. My landing was soft, his was not. He cried out as he hit the ground, then groaned when I landed on top of him.

I huffed and leaned down next to his ear after we landed. "Your mother is hearing about this, and I should kill you myself."

Parker's eyes widened at the first time I'd spoken all day.

"Hey! Are you two alright?" I looked up from my best friend and got off of him in order to look at the two males before us. One of them was a young man about our age. I saw that he had a pokeball on his belt, which meant that he was a trainer. He was pale white in complexion while he had a red hat on his head; it was smaller and closer to his scalp while two blue pokeballs, outlined in white, were on either side of his head. His hair seemed to be a more blue in color under his hat. His eyes were a dark blue in color, and he wore a white, short sleeved shirt under a thin black vest over it, which had a single white stripe over the front of his chest. Blue jeans were on his feet along with black boots and a red scarf was wrapped around his neck.

The second of them I recognized immediately. Professor Rowan stood before us in his work clothes. Darker dress pants were on him as well as a white button up shirt with a blue sweater vest over it. Boots were on his feet rather then dress shoes due to the colder weather outside and probably due to work. His pale skin actually was colorful compared to his snow white hair and mustache. In his hands was a silver brief case he carried.

"Wow, Professor Rowan!" My best friend jumped up from the ground. "Just the man we were looking for!"

The older man blinked at him. "Me? What could possibly be the reason that you would foolishly run through the pokemon infested grass to look for me?"

"Uh… ow!" Parker howled in pain as I smacked the back side of his head. He pouted at me after I'd hit him. "That hurt!"

I stayed silent and crossed my arms at him.

"Alright, alright, I get it Eira." Parker sighed and got back to his feet. "I was going to run through the grass to get to your lab without a pokemon because I wanted to be a pokemon trainer. We both do, but Eira stopped me from going in from how dangerous it was. I was hoping you would give her and I a pokemon, but I don't deserve one."

I blinked and looked back at him in shock. Parker had wanted a pokemon to call his friend and companion for years now. For him to suddenly say that was _more_ then shocking to me, and apparently it caught the attention of the older man as well.

"Young man…"

"Parker, and my best friend's name is Eira."

"Eira? As in Eira Helaine?" I blinked up at him and nodded.

Parker narrowed his eyes slightly. "How did you know that?"

The professor shook his head. "Tell me, do you two love pokemon?"

"Of course we do!" Parker turned to me. "Right Eira." I nodded to him. I saw the professor looking at me mostly. I felt a bit nervous under his gaze and sadly cowered and hid behind Parker. My best friend looked shocked at me and I held onto his shoulders and looked away from the professor.

"I'm sorry my dear, I didn't mean to frighten you, only understand you is all." I dared to look back at the man and gaze was much less harsh this time around. "I am an old friend of your mother's, though it doesn't surprise me that she didn't mention me. I was more associated with your father in the past."

Hear of him, even just the mention, brought a depressed like state over me. My grip on Parker grew and I lowered my head against his back.

"Eira?" I shook my head and refused to look up.

"I'm sorry; it's a sensitive subject for us all." The professor sighed. "But… in spite of this, you two seem like very bright and good natured children. I'd like to give you each a pokemon."

"Professor, you can't be serious!" the young male at the professor's side cried out. "These are very rare pokemon for your research!"

"Pokemon can be found all over this world Cameron. I can still learn what I need through these two children." The professor smiled at us and it was only then that I really peaked out much around Parker's shoulder. "Come Eira, you can choose first."

"Yeah, go for it Eira!" Parker turned to me and grinned. "Come on this is an amazing opportunity!" Parker gently pulled me before him and my eyes widened before I ran behind him again. "Come on Eira…"

"Here, allow me let them out and you can choose." The professor pulled apart his case and pulled out two pokeballs. "I apologize, I'd already given one to Cameron here, so there are only two left."

"That's fine!" Parker grinned and turned back to me. "Look at them Eira!"

I peaked around his shoulder in order to see the pokeballs that just had been opened and looked at the pokemon before us. Two pokemon stood, one of grass type and one of water type. The grass type was small and looked slightly bulky in body. It had a large head with a body to match in size. It had a small leaf on the top of its head and what looked like a brown shell on its back for protection. It seemed like it would be a good pokemon for defense in the future. Its entire body was green and it had a beak like mouth at the front of it, I didn't see any teeth. Its eyes were bright yellow and it walked on its four stubby legs.

The second of the two, the water type, looked like a bird pokemon that was a bit larger and walked on its legs. It had flipper like feet that were yellow in color with the beak being of the same color. The feathers on this pokemon were blue in color, but on its back was a dark blue bit of feathers that stood slightly off its back along with around its neck and its head. Lighter blue feathers covered its body and a little sliver from the top of its head down to its beak. The rest of its head feathers were white as well as two dots on its front chest. Its eyes were an onyx black, and they were hooked onto me.

"Twig!" The grass one started to bounce around and jump onto the professor's head. He cried out in surprise and his assistant and Parker rushed over to help him. That left me with the water type.

"Pip?" The pokemon turned back to the professor before it turned back around to me. "Lup?"

"I'm Eira…" I tried to show the small pokemon a smile, but it was a bit difficult after what the professor said. The small pokemon noticed this and shook its body before it blew bubbles into my face. It startled me and the pokemon laughed.

"Piplup!" It blew more bubbles into my face and some of them popped on me. I couldn't help but giggle softly while the men still fussed over the other pokemon.

"Bubbly…" The pokemon smiled and jumped into my arms when it heard me say that.

"Piplup! Pip!"

"Hi Bubbly… I think we'll make a great team… and good friends…"

Bubbly continued to gently spray bubbles in my face, and I couldn't help but laugh. It felt good to laugh out loud, and it caught the attention of the boys.

"Oh Eira! Did you choose that one?" Parker rushed over to me and grinned when he saw me smiling. I nodded to him. He grinned and pumped his fist. "Alright! I'll take that energetic grass one then!"

"Twig!" The grass type then jumped from Rowan up into the air and latched onto Parker's arm. He cried out and ran with the pokemon still attached. I blinked at the scene, with Bubbly in my arms.

"Piplup!" Bubbly cheered and threw up its arms in mine.

"It seems that she has taken a large liking to you Eira." I turned back to the professor and lowered my head slightly, not looking him in the eyes. "Eira, please, I am sorry for upsetting you…"

"Pip!" I looked down at Bubbly, who puffed up her chest and shot out a beam of water at the professor, drenching him in water. I gasped in shock and sternly looked down at her. She stopped her attack and looked at me sadly.

"Oh no, she's done this before." The professor shook himself off and took his case back up before handing me two pokeballs. "This one on the right is Piplup's, the left one is Turtwig's. I need to head back to my lab now, but please do be careful Eira. Raise your pokemon well and I hope I will see you soon." The man bowed his head slightly to me before taking off down the grassy path. The young man with him, Cameron as I gathered, hurried off after him. I watched the two of them walk away before I put Bubbly's pokeball in my bag and held onto Parker's pokemon's pokeball.

I turned on my heels and headed back into town, which was where Parker had run off with the pokemon still attached to his arm. Slowly walking along the long road home, I saw Bubbly look up at me. When she saw there wasn't a smile on my face, she quickly blew some bubbles around us. They glittered as the sun hit them on the road back to my home.

"I'm sorry I'm not very talkative… I haven't been for a long time…" Bubbly looked up at me, but she continued to let loose a few bubbles. "Someone left me a long time ago… and it hurts a lot… still…"

"Pip…" Bubbly rubbed her head against me. Her soft feathers felt amazing on my skin and I smiled at her.

"Thank you Bubbly. We have a party we're going to as well… it's my birthday." I smiled down at her. "Do you want to celebrate with me?"

"Piplup!" She cheered and wiggled her way out of my arms before she jumped up next to me. I gave her a smile and led her back to my home. I could see my mother and Cordelia already there with Parker, trying to help him get Turtwig off of him. He was running around the house and I rolled my eyes at his behavior.

"Bubbly, can you get them to stop?" My water type nodded and puffed up her cheeks. She screeched as she threw out an army of bubbles that slammed into Parker and his pokemon. The two of them were thrown backward and the pokemon fell off. My mother and Cordelia could only watch in shock as Parker shook his head and Turtwig lay next to him.

"Hey! You got him off!" Parker grinned as he picked up his pokemon and returned him. "Thanks Eira."

I nodded to him and turned back to my mother. Once she noticed Bubbly in my arms, her eyes widened.

"Eira! Where did you and Parker get these pokemon?"

"Professor Rowan ran into us!" Parker grinned, effectively cutting off any possibility to tell of his stupid mistake to cut through the tall grass and get attacked. "He was on an experiment run and we ran into him and talked to him! We told him how we loved pokemon and he said he'd give us one each!"

"Really?" I looked over at my mother and I nodded to her. "Is that all that happened?"

"Parker was going to run through the grass, and the professor stopped him while I was holding him back." My mother blinked, not sure if she'd heard me speak at all, or the amount that I'd spoken to her. Cordelia was shocked to, until she remembered what I'd said and hissed before she took off and grabbed her son's ears.

"You did what? Parker Demeet! You know better then that! Your lucky Eira and the professor were there and you're grounded for the night!"

"Mom!" Parker and his mother fought then about the situation at hand. I sighed and walked back over to my mother. She looked worriedly over at me and pulled me close to her.

"Are you okay Eira?"

I nodded my head.

She pulled back and looked at me worriedly. "Did Parker do anything else other then that?"

I shook my head.

"Alright, let's go enjoy the party now, I won't send Parker away, not when it's your special day." She smiled and touched the cheek of Bubbly. "Now who is this?"

"Bubbly… my piplup." It took me a moment to remember the name of the breed of pokemon I had. I smiled as I thought to the fact that she was mine. Bubbly looked up at me and smiled, touching my cheek before she snuggled back down into my arms.

"Oh Eira… she's adorable…" my mothered coo'd over the pokemon in my arms and I smiled at her. It was nice to see my mother gushing over my pokemon. I was more then grateful to have Bubbly.

But now it was time to celebrate.

"Oh let's get to know her at the party then Eira! I got your favorite meal out and a nice chocolate cake for you!" I smiled at my mother and followed her inside to where I saw the party all set up and food all around. Bubbly drooled in my arms as she looked at it all before I rushed in, ready to have some enjoyment with my new friend.

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Alright, so here we are people! Book 4! Can you believe it? This is the beginning to the fourth book of our series:** _ **Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure**_ **. Here we have shy, quiet and keeps to herself Eira and her energetic best friend, Parker. We've just barely started the story and we already have issues coming to the surface! Professor Rowan knows Eira? Knows her father? Where is he and what happened to him? So many questions! I love it!**

 **Anyway, let me know what you think to the beginning to this new story! I'm excited to see what you guys have to say for our characters! We've met all three of them! Eira, Parker and Cameron!**

 **Not to mention, we found out that Vince has taken a liking to males…**

 **Also, did anyone notice we have a water starter this time around? Seems like we have a different set of tastes this time around for the starter trainer! It's not a fire type like it has been in the stories before! But everyone is a little different; all the female trainers have fire starters except for Aria, who has a grass one, her sceptile.**

 **Oh I can't wait to hear what you have to say! Love you all and see you next week with another chapter! Don't forget to Review and send in any Questions!**

 **Oh! And don't forget our favorite pass time of getting questions from you for my Q's & A's page (questions and answers) where you ask me and the characters about things that you want answers to. Now remember, don't be afraid to send any in! We all love questions here and we're excited to see you guys send them in! If you still have no idea what I'm talking about, look at my first story "Violet's Trial", or my second one "Gwyn's Passage", or the most recent, my third one "Jezebel's Voyage" on the very last chapter or some of my older stories last chapter for examples.**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	2. Crazy Ideas and Situations

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 2: Crazy Ideas and Situations_

 **Eira's Point of View:**

We had an amazing little party with just the six of us yesterday. I quickly found out that my little Bubbly was a glutton when it came to food. She just ate and ate until she fell over with her stomach visibly expanded in all areas. Parker, his pokemon and mother all fought during the party, but my mother and I enjoyed watching the show. They were fighting as the food was eaten. I don't think I've laughed so much in years…

When the day came close to an end, Parker, Turtwig and Cordelia headed to their home just down the street. Once they had gone, I took Bubbly up into my room where we spend most of the night together with each other. It was so much fun to play with her. She acted as if her only reason to be here was to make me happy. She kept a smile on my face all night and climbed into my bed with me when it came to bed time.

When the next day came around, I thought it would be a good idea for Bubbly and I to get some exercise. I took her out to the route we had met on and ran into quite a few pokemon on our morning walk. I was surprised to see how aggressive they seemed to be toward us and had to force Bubbly to attack. Though my pokemon seemed to have no problem with that…

Bubbly handled them all well, shooting beams of water and bubbles at them all and throwing them back or defeating them in one shot. She'd turn back to me once she was done and look for my approval, and she got my warm smile that I was more then willing to give her. Bubbly had stolen my heart overnight and I was nothing but putty in her little wing like hands, and yet, she would go above and beyond to make me happy… It just sent swells of warm emotions down into my heart to have a companion like that.

A short while after her training and our walk, we headed back home just in time to see my mother and Honey working out in the small garden. Honey was using her teeth to help cut down some of the plant that needed to be prepared for the winter months soon to come. Overnight, the scenery had drastically changed and the leaves finally started to turn, colors of red, orange, yellow, maroon, purple, and brown swirled around us as the leaves began their change and decent from the mother trees.

"Oh there you are Eira!" My mother smiled up at me once I approached her little garden she was working on. She turned to my pokemon down at my feet and smiled at her too. "And it's good to see you too Bubbly! How was your walk?"

"Entertaining." I smiled at my mother and looked over at Bubbly who was spewing bubbles all over again. My mother laughed at her before standing up and brushing the dirt of herself with her hands.

"I'm glad to hear it sweetheart." She kissed my forehead and gave me a quick hug. "Now that you have a pokemon, you can go anywhere you want. You can start your journey."

I nodded to my mother. I was more then well aware of that, but I expected this from her in a way of saying goodbye to me. She swallowed whatever it was that hung in her throat before she smiled again with glossy eyes. "And as much as I don't want you to go, you should. Get out there and find out who you really are. I know you'll be fine, especially with Bubbly with you."

"Mom…" My lips parted slightly and my shoulders sank. I never wanted to hurt my mother… I never wanted to hurt anyone, especially not after what happened when I was young…

I was suddenly pulled into a hug by my mother. She held me tightly against her as I felt the tears drip onto my shoulder. "Oh Eira, Baby, these tears are happy ones. I'm just so happy that I was lucky enough to raise a wonderful daughter like you… and now you're ready to take on the world and become your own woman." She wiped at her eyes before she let out a shaky breath. "I want you to be the best woman you can be and figure out who you're meant to be. Take all the time you need, the region itself is vast and endless, and the world is ever so much more. Go and follow whatever dream suits you best, make new friends, make a team of pokemon you can depend on and who you hold close."

"I will." I smiled up at my mother and cuddled into her chest for a moment before pulling away and allowing the woman to compose herself. She partly did, turning her body around and returning to her garden. "Grab all the things you'll need and remember to stop in Sandgem Town to thank the professor for giving you Bubbly."

"Okay." I left my mother then to return inside the house and gather the few things I would need to take with me on my journey. I hurried upstairs to my room before I looked over the few things that I planned to take with me. For my birthday last night, I'd received two cases from my mother, one for gym badges and one for pokemon contests. My mother wanted me to have the option to follow whatever dream of mine I had, whether it be through gym battles, or through pokemon contests. She figured it would give me a good idea to test my abilities in the two different areas. And if my taste moved away from those fields, by then I would have enough experience under my belt to peruse something else, such as maybe a breeder, or maybe a researcher, or even something that didn't involve pokemon twenty-four-seven.

Once the cases were in my bag, I then turned to the other items I'd gotten last night. Cordelia had been more then kind enough to think ahead of the cold winter heading our way and got me a brand new, soft, pink jacket that came down well past my knees in length while she also got me a pair of white boots that stretched all the way up to my knees, keeping me well sheltered from the cold. I was more then happy with this turn of events and grabbed those items too. I placed them all inside my bag before picking up Bubbly into my arms and setting her pokeball on my belt while I headed outside of my home.

Outside I saw my mother for one last time before I left. She tried her best not to look at me as I passed by her and her garden. I smiled at her and Honey, who actually happened to turn and look, as well as meow at me as I left. I waved back to her before taking off to the edge of town, where my journey would start.

On the edge of town came the route where I'd met up with the professor yesterday and received Bubbly, route two-oh-one. I smiled at the area as I glanced back and froth. The area I was at actually had three locations off of this area. The first was my home town, right on the middle of the path, however, the other two, on opposite ends, were Sandgem Town, and to the east, and our beautiful Lake Verity.

Parker and I traveled many times to the gorgeous lake to play at as well as look for the legendary pokemon that was said to live here. For many years, Parker and I looked, and only a time or two did we ever get lucky enough to hear the pokemon speak to us through the thick fog covering the lake during a storm. It was only every so often that we'd be lucky enough to see the shadow of the pokemon as well. It was a small and dainty looking creature that floated in the air; it had two tails that acme out of its small body. I remember through the fog seeing a faded shade of pink and what seemed to be hair. Other then that, we have never come face to face with this pokemon.

"Eira!"

I turned my head and I quickly noticed my best friend rushing up to me with his pokemon at his feet, keeping the pace easily that Parker set. Parker and his pokmon easily skidded to a stop next to me and grinned once they got their footing.

"Hey!"

I nodded to him.

"Eira, I'm planning on heading down to Professor Rowan's lab to thank him for Turtwig." Parker grinned while the pokemon at his feet jumped up into the air and latched onto his arm. My eyes widened when I saw Parker purposely did that. Turtwig was happily on his arm and Parker wasn't running or screaming with the pokemon attached to him with its beak. "You're going too right?"

I nodded to him.

"Cool! We should go together!" He grinned and grabbed my hand. "But before we do that…"

I blinked at him in confusion.

"We should head over to Lake Verity and see if we can find that legendary pokemon! Wouldn't professor Rowan be proud of us if we brought it back to him?"

I sighed. "And how do you expect this time to be any different from the others we've gone there to see it?"

"I just know so! It's in my gut!" Parker slammed his free fist into his chest before I saw him wither and sink to the ground in pain. "Oww…"

I shook my head. _Idiot…_ Never the less, I held out a hand for him to grab and helped him back to his feet.

Once he stood before me, he grinned like a fool. "So let's head over there!"

I shrugged. I really didn't care if we went again, but I knew what we would find, nothing.

I allowed Parker to lead me down toward the entrance to the lake, passing by the many trees we played around as children. I had so many fond and depressing memories of this place; it sometimes killed me to come out here. Before the accident… my father would take me here and tell me the legends of the lake, and the other three, as well as beings of time and space and even shadows. He was an incredible wealth of knowledge, working as a partner to Professor Rowan.

I shook my head and tried to clear those raging thoughts and emotions from my head and body. They always seemed to put me in my worst of moods. I pulled myself from those thoughts and followed after Parker who dragged me to the lake front.

"Alright! Let's check this out!" Parker rushed through the entrance between the trees to the lake, but quickly stopped short when he saw something on the edge of the lake. "What's going on?"

I blinked in surprise and rushed up to his side. Parker was staring at a man with bright blue, spiky hair and strange clothing of silver and black color. He was standing a good distance away from us, but regardless, even with him mumbling, I could hear the words from his lips clear as if he was next to me, whispering them in my ear.

"...The flowing time... The expanding space... I will make it all mine one day... Cyrus is my name. Remember it... Until then, sleep while you can legendary pokemon of the lake bed..."

The voice, it sounded so familiar, my eyes widened at how easily I recognized the voice in general. The man slowly turned around and I gasped when I saw his face. Tears naturally welded up in my eyes as he appeared there. I _knew_ him… did he remember me?

The man slowly walked toward us, his eyes were pointed and at an angle on his face, while they were a blue color, they were dark, and I couldn't tell if that was a haze over his eyes or their natural color from my childhood memory. His face was scrunched up as he hunched back over to where Parker and I were at the entrance to the lake. He stopped before us and looked before sighing.

"Allow me to pass, stand aside."

I was frozen in my place, but Parker was well enough to move so the man could pass. He nodded to Parker, glanced at me a final time, before taking off to Arceus knows where.

"Wow… that was weird… I wonder who that guy was doing here…" Parker mulled over it for a moment and groaned as he tried to rack his brain. I simply looked back at him, as I was still frozen in fear and confusion. Parker looked over at me, noticing the fearful look on my face. "Eira? What's wrong?"

I was too shaken up to speak…

"…Why don't we get you back home…?" All I could get out was a nod. Parker was slow and gentle for once and held out his hand. As fearful as I was, I couldn't stop myself from grasping his entire arm and holding it close to me, nearly hiding behind him. Parker's eyes widened as he saw me act like this, but didn't say anything and I allowed him to lead me home.

Turtwig had finally released his trainer's arm and walked beside him, upset from my fearful mood. Bubbly held onto the front of me with her flipper like wing hands. She tried her best to blow bubbles up in my face to calm me down or get me to relax, but my body just wouldn't have anything to do with that. Bubbly refused to give up however, but her wonderful efforts were in vain. I was lost to my fears…

Eventually Parker got us back to my home and my mother was still working in the garden when we arrived back, it had only been a couple hours since we'd left. My mother got one look over at Parker and then at me before she gasped and sprang into action.

"Eira! Are you alright baby? What's wrong?" She instantly was at my side and smoothing my hair and rubbing my face and pulled me into a hug, even though I refused to let go of Parker's arm. I was deeply troubled, and my mother understood that. She turned to my best friend. "Parker, she's in shock right now, I hope you don't mind staying for a few hours or the rest of the day, I'll call your mother."

"Okay."

"Take her inside and get her set down so she can relax, I'll be back with some of that special tea that I'll give you both incase this happens again. Mint tea always seems to bring her out of this state or when she has a nightmare."

"I got it Mrs. Helaine."

Parker was quick to lead me back inside my house and Honey was quick to greet us. She could feel the waves of dark energy coming off of me and once Parker had me situated, she set herself in my lap and waited.

Only moments later, my mother rushed back inside and hurried to the kitchen, getting hot water and the special tea that had a scent strong enough to knock me over and wake me up. With a cup of it brewed in her hands, she handed it to Parker, who set it down on his lap before he held the cup up to my face. I was barely able to force my body to take a small sip of it and I felt a jolt race through me.

I felt like I was able to move again and slowly let go of Parker's arm before taking the tea into my own hands. I took a little bit more of it into my body before I finally let out a huge breath that seemed to take the pressure I felt on my chest with it.

Bubbly looked at me in worry when I finally was able to turn and look at her. She blew a small bubble in my face that popped on the edge of my nose. I blinked when it happened, and the corners of my mouth slightly twitched in the way of a smile. She cheered when she saw it and my hand found the top of her head and petted her before petting Honey as well.

"Eira honey? What happened?" My mother was quick to kneel down before me and look at me in the eyes. I shook my head at her, trying to forget what had taken place.

"There was a man Mrs. Helaine." Parker tried to tell what he knew to my mother to help me. "We were fine until he turned around and she saw his face. After that, she was frozen."

"She must have mistaken him then…" My mother shook her head and kissed mine. "Just relax and have some fun Eira, I'll put on some dinner and Parker can stay the night if you'd like."

And I would like that, even with how wild and rowdy Parker could be, he was sweet and caring as well, as could be presented as evidence from how he treated me differently on the way back from the lake. I nodded to my mother and curled up into Parker's side. He was warm, and I liked that feeling. Parker was still and turned on the TV before him while my mother walked off. Bubbly and Honey curled into my body while Turtwig ran around the floor in circles, either over or completely oblivious to the situation at hand. I felt Parker place an arm around me in comfort before I calmed down and allowed sleep to overtake me.

I felt myself fall into blackness and finally feel content.

 **Witch's Note:**

 **I know that this is one of the shortest chapters I've ever written, but also very necessary. Poor Eira is scared of Cyrus? But why? Does she know him? Does he look like someone she knew? Is this somehow related to her strangely no-existent father or the accident she keeps mentioning from when she was a little girl? You guys will just have to find out next time!**

 **Don't forget to send in Questions and Reviews for me to know what you thought of this chapter and what you think about Eira and Parker or the pokemon and everything thus far! I'd love to know!**

 **Love you all and see you next week!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	3. Thank The Professor

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 3: Thank the Professor_

 **Eira's Point of View (Dream):**

 _It took a majority of the rest of the day in order for me to relax and calm down entirely, I finally fell to my dreams sometime in the middle of a TV show I was watching with Parker. When I fell into a deep slumber, I stumbled across that strange world again, the one I'd been seeing a few too many times, but now… I was enjoying the comfort of reality not being as it seemed here. There seemed to be no rules here, no restrictions, and that gave me the ability to let go and sink to my knees and cry._

 _I was so afraid; I couldn't understand what had just taken place. In this world, I felt alone, but it felt good, I didn't have to worry about someone seeing me sobbing my eyes out over the man I'd seen. I never through I'd see him again since the accident, when he walked out of my life. I was so heartbroken, and now every time I see him, or are reminded of him, I freeze up in my world and break down once I get to this one._

 _I found the dark and strange looking terrain comforting, the darkness didn't always mean bad things, no different then dark types were always bad, just misunderstood. I could let my walls crumble here to this world and the beast I see here. It always watches me, flying from the swirling vortex like skies above._

 _I could feel its eyes on me as I let my feelings show in this dark world. I looked up from where I'd let my tears loose and glanced around. I saw the red eyes and the shadow of the beast flying above. I blinked the tears away the best I could and rose to my feet. It was like a never ending journey to travel from one point in this maze to the next. It seemed like it was always my job to find the lowest point where the beast would land from where ever I was tossed into this world. It got easier and easier as I made more trips, but if I hadn't been here in a while, sometimes I'd forget the little things._

 _I was only a short distance from where I'd been the last time, only a river and a waterfall that was hanging over my head, upside-down, was in my way to getting to it. Bubbly wasn't with me in this world, I had to travel it on my own. Taking a deep breath, I walked forward to the river that flowered upwards and dived in, allowing the water to take me. The water rushed past me and it dragged me instantly away from where I had been. With the rush of water around me, it was difficult to tell what was up or down, left or right. Or where the air was. I chocked a bit on my own breath as I felt myself shoved over the edge and out of the water before landing at the base of the waterfall. I shook my head and looked around. My hair flew downward away from my face, showing me where I came from was down, but my body stayed where it was, so I was currently alright._

 _I moved away from the edge of the water and found some land to the side. I quickly climbed out and lay out on the bank. I was surprised to feel that none of the water had clung to me once I stepped out of the water. It was strange…_

 _Once I had rested long enough, I rose to my feet and heard the cry of the beast once more. I looked up to the sky above and watched the shadow figure with red eyes fly threw the skies above before diving to the area below._

 _It was waiting for me again._

 _Slowly making my way below, I followed the old paths that I remembered from my many past visits here before. The path was so well used by myself from over the years, I could see light scuffs on the ground from where I'd been. It gave me a better indicator of where I needed to go and lead me down to the bottom._

 _Eventually, that was where I landed myself, at the very bottom once more. The creature sat there, waiting for me, just like it did the last time. I approached it, its shape still nothing more then a shadow with red eyes. It looked like a hill to me, but as I stepped close, the hill took a bit of a shape. I watched as it took shape in an almost serpent like shape, with spikes all over its body. Its eyes were still red, but it clearly had more to it. I saw the shadow slowly begin to fade, but I didn't get much further before I felt my vision blur in and out._

" _Not again…" The words barely slipped from my mouth before the creature before me cried out and lowered its head closer to me. I just barely saw silver under the shadows before I was taken away._

 **Eira's Point of View (Awake):**

I was woken with a gentle nudge of something next to me. I glanced upward and saw it was Parker when my vision cleared. I blinked my eyes and I was surprised to see I was in my bed rather then on the couch compared to where I fell asleep the night before.

"Hey Eira, how ya feeling?" Parker was slow to question me as I sat up. I dizzily looked around before I found my bearings and looked at him. I shrugged, which was a normal answer for me. "Glad to see you looking better! You had us worried yesterday!"

"Piplup!" I turned my head in time to see Bubbly rushing to my side with food stuffed into her cheeks. She crawled onto my bed and into my lap before I heard shouting and feet pounding the stairs behind her.

"Bubbly! You little glutton! I told you to wait until Eira-" My mother stopped short at the doorway of my room as she saw me up and dropped her split spoon. "Eira! Baby! Are you alright?"

My mother was quick to rush to my side and I nodded my head to her, trying to ease her worries. Yesterday was a day that I wish I could forget. But sadly, I doubted that would happen.

"Oh baby girl, it's so good to see you up. You gave me such a scare yesterday." My mother sat herself on the edge of my bed and petted my hair. "You ready for some food?"

I nodded to her and got up from my bed. I noticed I was still in my clothes from the day before. My mother noticed I looked at my clothes and she smiled.

"I'll give those a quick wash for you honey. Go on and take a quick shower, change into some other clothes while I get these guys washed and go eat. Once your all done, the clothes should be too for you to head out today."

I nodded to my mother, thankful for her kindness and understanding. I rose from bed and hurried off to my bathroom and threw off the clothes I was wearing. I stepped into the shower while I heard my mother step in and grab them while I saw Bubbly run past her and jump into the shower with me. She cheered at my feet and blew up bubbles in my face. I giggled at her while she jumped and played with the water that fell onto the two of us. Bubbly danced around and played while I got myself clean before grabbing her.

"I think you could use a washing too." Bubbly looked up at me before I picked her up in my arms and grabbed the washcloth to the side. It took only a few minutes to get her clean, but she looked a lot better once she was done. I set her back down and she looked over herself before she cheered and ran around the shower again, bursting at the seams with energy and bubbles letting loose all over the place.

"Bubbly!" I laughed as she continued her race. I rinsed out my hair before turning off the shower. "Come on, time to get out." Bubbly pouted, but she followed me out of the shower and I got dried off and dressed. My mother had left me some clothes on the counter and I eagerly put on the pajamas she left out of a shirt and pants.

Once I was dressed, I headed back downstairs where Parker and my mother were with Bubbly running laps around my feet. She had so much energy today; she must have eaten _a lot_ of food for that to happen. It was one of the quickest things for me to learn about my cute little piplup, the glutton. She loved food nearly as much as she loved me, and when I was doing well, she was not afraid to show her passion for it.

I could see where Bubbly had taken some food from the breakfast counter that my mother had set up. I shook my head as I sat at the table and grabbed some food, sitting across from Parker as he chowed through his, him and his pokemon both making a mess.

"Parker! Turtwig!" Both of them froze and flinched, daring to look up at my mother as she held the broken wooden spoon over their heads. My mother was glaring down at them with murderous eyes that glowed red. "If your going to eat like savages, then you'll be treated as such, eat it with manners or you'll be eating it off the floor. You _both_ already will be doing my dishes, and if one is broken, you're going to wish you were _never_ born!"

I watched as the two of them visibly shrunk and gulped, instantly slowing their pace for my mother. She grunted and nodded at them before turning back to grabbing more food and setting it on the table. Bubbly grinned when she saw it and reached for more, but my mother swatted at her hand with the wooden spoon.

"You've already had _more_ then your fill, you wait until Eira's done and _then_ you can have more, if there's any left." Bubbly's eyes went wide before her eyes filled with tears and she cried. My mother ignored her while I tried to calm her. It wasn't working well, but my pokemon did sooth herself to quiet sobs.

My mother seemed extra harsh this morning, most likely because of my episode yesterday that put her on edge. I shook my head silently and grabbed some of my food off my plate when my mother wasn't looking and held it under the table for Bubbly to see. Once she saw it, she silently grabbed and began to eat. I slowly ate away at my own food while she munched on that until I was done. When I didn't want anymore food, my mother sighed and let the water pokemon have at it.

"Go on Bubbly, she doesn't want anymore, but don't make a mess of my kitchen!" My water type grinned and started munching at all the leftovers that sat upon the table. I smiled down at my pokemon, gently patting her head while I looked up at my mother. She looked a bit stressed; was there something going on more then just my episode yesterday?

"Mother?" My mother instantly looked up at me when I spoke. I tilted my head to the side in confusion. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no, everything's fine." I watched my mother wave off my worries for her. She was like that, worrying more over me then not. I wished to question my mother further, but there would be no point to it, she would not allow her emotions to get the best of her and vent before me, only with me gone could she do as such with Honey or by herself. It's how she's been for many years since it's just been the two of us.

"How long until my clothes are done?" I decided it would be best to change the subject rather then push her when I knew it would get no where.

"Oh? Just a few more minutes Eira, and then you and Parker can be on your way." My mother rushed off to check on the task and I looked away from where she left and to the window.

 _It would be best for me to leave soon, so my mother could let her feelings lose like I knew she needed to._

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"Man, your mom was over the top today…" Parker groaned as he rubbed the back of his head. Just before we'd left a short while ago, he'd made a comment to my mother and that ended up getting him hit with my mother's favorite spoon.

"She's stressed." It was my simple reply to him in the defense of my mother. She entirely was with what took place yesterday. I normally am an okay child to handle, I don't try to cause trouble and obey my mother and Cordelia or other adults, but… if there's anything that reminds me of when I was young, I got into fits of fear and freeze up. Depending on how badly I freeze up, I sometimes break out in tears and end up crying for hours, letting my feelings take control of me. I don't like it, but its times like those when people see the most emotion out of me. Maybe my journey will help change that…

"Shall we head to the lab then?" I quietly noted to Parker. "We need to thank Professor Rowan."

"Yeah, let's go; leave home for a while so hopefully your mother doesn't kill me the next time I come over." He groaned as he ran a hand over the sensitive spot. "Your mom hits hard!"

I could only giggle lightly at his comment. I couldn't help but smile at him as he complained over my mother, like he always did. I could only shake my head and keep walking along the path, with him and our pokemon at my sides, as we made our way to the professor's lab.

"What are you going to do once you say thanks to him Eira?" I looked up at my best friend as he questioned me.

"Oreburg… take on the gym leader there…" I shrugged. I had lots of time, but it wouldn't hurt to get started on my journey and start proving my strength at gyms and capturing a team of pokemon. All I had was Bubbly, and she would kick butt over at the first gym, it was a rock type, and Bubbly was a water, which worked out well for me. It would work well for Parker too, having Turtwig.

"Yeah, I'll do that too!" He grinned and started getting hyper again, moving all over the place and his pokemon keeping up with him well at an even pace. I sighed, Bubbly was sitting in my arms, more then content to be there then run around. I saw her vein on the top of her head getting ready to pop though as the boys kept running around us in circles and she snapped.

"PIPLUP!" She screeched and out came a blast of water from her beak that hit the two head on. The both cried out as they were pushed to the side, off the path, and into a tree. Their eyes resembled swirls and I laughed with Bubbly on the side lines. I gingerly walked up to them and checked to see they were okay before walking past them and moving on. I could see the next town up in the distance and I didn't want to wait on Parker who was knocked out.

"Thank you Bubbly. They were making me dizzy too." She grinned up at me and cheered as we made it to the road that would lead us directly into the town.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It took another few hours, but soon we had made it to the next town, Sandgem Town, the home of the esteemed Professor Rowan and his assistant Cameron. If my mother's information was correct, his lab was near the entrance of town on the side I'd come from. I walked around the small town on the water and asked a few locals just to be sure before heading to a large white building with a pokeball on the front of it.

I was quick to enter the building and soon saw a few assistants inside working at large, glowing machines and working with many different types, sizes and evolutions of pokemon. One that caught my attention was a small little monkey like pokemon that blew fire from its mouth. It's fur was red and the shape of a flame was outlined in its fur on top of its head. Next to that pokemon was Cameron, the younger male that was working with Professor Rowan yesterday.

He was the only one I knew here and would know what I wanted. I walked up to him and tapped on his shoulder. He didn't turn his head right away and it made me wonder if he'd felt the tap or not. I tapped once again and he stopped what he was doing.

"Could you just hold on a second? I'm busy here-" He whipped around his head to come face to face with me. His eyes widened before he quickly set down his stuff. "Eira! I'm sorry! I thought it was one of the other assistants! Here." He took hold of one of my hands and led me along. "Follow me. I'll lead you to the professor."

I nodded to him and was pulled to the back of this section that they were apparently working on. Cameron led me to an elevator and took me inside. The little fire pokemon raced forward and jumped into the elevator and climbed up on his shoulder, dancing a bit as it looked at us. I blinked at the pokemon. Bubbly growled at it.

"Let me introduce you." Cameron turned his body so the pokemon was facing me. "This is my partner, Chimchar. Before you took Piplup-"

"Bubbly." I stated frankly at him and he blinked. I forgot that was the first time he'd heard me speak.

"Excuse me?"

"Her name is Bubbly." I repeated. My pokemon huffed and another vein was starting to pop on her head again. Cameron nodded his head slowly before taking a slight step back in the elevator.

"Sorry, my bad." I nodded to him and he sighed. "Anyway, before you took Bubbly, these two didn't get along the best, so things have really changed a bit here since Turtwig and Bubbly left. Turtwig and Chimchar loved playing with each other, but Bubbly just liked to be by herself or eat." Cameron smiled at me. "I was always worried about her, I'm glad she has a great trainer like you to be her now and that she loves to be with."

"Thank you." He nodded to me before the elevator stopped and he led me off of it and into the other room. Here was the professor, he stood on the opposite side of the room, working with a starly. It chirped in our direction and the professor turned to face us. I smiled up at him, doing my best to keep my slight fears of him hidden. It seemed to have worked, because the man gave me a warm smile back.

"Ah, Eira, it's good to see you. How has your pokemon been?"

"Bubbly is doing well. Thank you." I bowed my head lightly to him. "Thank you for letting me have her."

"Well, I wasn't about to let you or your friend go off into the grass with no protection. But the reality of it is that Bubbly is the one who chose you. She's stuck up her beak to more trainers then you can imagine, but she found something interesting in you that makes her care."

I looked back at my pokemon that smiled at me in my arms. "So I've been told."

"In fact, now that you're here my dear, I was wondering if you would care to do me a favor?" I blinked at the older man as he turned around and grabbed something off the table that he had plugged into his computer. It was a small electronic device. It was handed to me and once I hit one of the buttons, it opened and the cover flipped onto its back while I saw a screen that came up and said "pokedex".

"This is part of my work, the pokedex. I've been working with pokemon for so many years, trying to understand evolution itself and why it happens, why it's so different for each different pokemon. I've been working with my colleges for a while now on these devices and others also carry them around the world, but I'd like your help to discover the pokemon here, since many pokemon here in this region seem to evolve in hundreds of different ways. Some are affected by the time of day, a stone that you would use, how much it loves its trainer… and so on!" The platinum colored device in my hands I closed and held to me. "Would you help me discover pokemon and their evolutions while on your journey?"

"Sure." I nodded to him. It was the least I could do for him after he'd given me such a good friend in Bubbly and all.

The professor grinned happily at me. "Glad to hear it! And here, why don't we get you some items to get you started on your journey? Cameron would be happy to get some pokeballs and potions for you."

"No problem professor." Cameron grinned and led me off while the professor got back to work. I got back in the elevator while Cameron took us to the first floor again. "We'll be heading over to the back room where we keep supplies. It'll only be a minute. Hey," he paused for a moment and turned to me. "Would you like me to show you how to catch a pokemon? I have some free time if you'd like?"

I shook my head. "I don't want to distract you from your tasks for the professor…"

"Hey, part of my working with the professor is discovering the same thing you are, and it helps by battling wild pokemon and capturing them and getting them stronger in order to evolve." He patted my shoulder. "I have more then enough time, since I'm heading to the next city, Jubilife. I didn't see Parker with you, want a traveling buddy?"

I blinked in surprise. "You… want to travel with me?"

"Sure, I'm leaving off on my own journey too. How else am I going to find new pokemon if I just stay here? Certain ones live in forests, or by lakes, in oceans, or on the mountains and in caves or deserts."

I smiled at him then. "I'd love to then Cameron." He smiled then and led me into another section of the laboratory. It was a big vault. Cameron used a key he had on hand before the door opened and I was shocked at what there was inside. Hundreds of potions, stones, pokeballs and other random items seemed to be placed on shelves in piles or by themselves, most likely depending on how important or how many of them they hand.

"Ah! Here we go!" Cameron pulled out a few potions and pokeballs and opened my bag and set them inside for me. "I think five potions and ten pokeballs should be enough to start out with until later on."

"I think so…" I nodded to him slowly and allowed the professor's assistant to lead me out of the vault and then out of the laboratory. Parker was still no where insight, so he must have been up with the professor, stuck back where Bubbly and I left him, or just plain old went past us and kept on going. I didn't know, but Parker was quick, he'd catch up if he was left behind, and that was normal.

"Cool! Let's go this way Eira. I know a good pokemon that would make for a great example." I nodded and followed Cameron out into the tall grass that led north. No evidence of Parker was anywhere.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"Alright! This here is a good spot!" Cameron halted me once we got to a certain spot out of Sandgem town. We were nearly halfway between the routes and had made some good ground. While Cameron was getting out all of things and what not, I pulled out some food that I left for Bubbly, who was starting to whine with her belly no longer full from breakfast. We'd have to stop and get her a proper meal at some point in order to keep her from getting upset over no food at all.

Bubbly smiled at me as I gave her some food. She began to munch at it while Cameron searched for a wild pokemon. I quickly noticed a small brown pokemon with large bucked teeth hanging out of its mouth. I recognized it as the plump mouse pokemon named bidoof. It looked around until its eyes landed on Cameron and I raised an eye at it.

"Cameron, what about that pokemon?" Cameron quickly turned back to me before looking to where I pointed out the pokemon. Cameron grinned and rushed over to it while the pokemon backed away, hissing out through its teeth.

"Alright, let me show you how to catch a pokemon!" Cameron grinned as he threw out his pokeball. "Help me out Chimchar!"

His little fire monkey pokemon came out of its pokeball and danced around for a moment before looking at its opponent and smirking. The bidoof didn't like that and charged right at him.

"Alright buddy, use ember!" His chimchar nodded his head before he grinned and blasted a small flame of fire at the opposing pokemon. The pokemon cried out as it was hit, staggering backward, before Cameron pulled out a pokeball and threw it, grunting in the process. The pokemon was tapped by the white and red device before being sucked in by red light and vanishing inside. I watched as the ball shook a few times before it settled and gave in. Cameron smiled at his work and picked it up.

"Did you see what I did Eira?"

I nodded my head to him. "Weaken the pokemon, possibly give it a status effect and then throw the pokeball and hope for capture. Weakening it helps with it staying in the ball until it can take effect."  
Cameron nodded. "Exactly right, you're a good study there Eira."

I nodded my head. It seemed easy enough, but it would most likely be different when I caught my own first pokemon, but this was the basic tactic that most trainers used. I would keep it in mind, but I didn't want to force pokemon to become part of my team if I could help it.

"Hey! Eira!" I turned my head and watched as Parker finally caught up to us and gasped for breath before he glared at me. "What the hell did you leave me behind for? And why did you let Bubbly attack me?"

"PIP!" Bubbly growled at him and his pokemon before they both froze at her anger. Cameron even froze a second to look. Chimchar laughed at the three of them before Bubbly went over the edge. Her hunger got the best of her. She fired a beam of water at the fire type pokemon and Chimchar ran for the trees. The pokemon squeaked as it hid and watched us in fear and I groaned. It was time to move on.

"Come along Bubbly, let's head to the next town and eat." Bubbly quickly calmed down and looked up at me, excited for food, but still sour at the four males. I continued on with her in hopes of finding the next town before dark so Bubbly and I could have a good set of food and get ready to challenge the gyms. With how strong my pokemon was now, I had little to fear.

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Well, that was an interesting chapter, wasn't it? Eira was more laid back and let others do the driving a lot, but that's her style really right now. She hasn't had much of a chance in order to take a stand yet. And it won't be for a little while that we see that development. Even with Bubbly, she has control, but she doesn't right now, and that we'll see improvement on in the future. So I hope that you all let me know what you think of this**

 **So like always my dear reviewers! Review and send in questions please! The story will change soon, once key elements start to take effect for our main characters, and more of Eira Helaine will come to light! See you all next week!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	4. The Strange Detective Looker

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 4: The Strange Detective Looker_

 **Eira's Point of View:**

It was a quiet walk to the next city for the rest of the day. The boys were holding themselves back by quite a few feet, quite fearful of my water pokemon. I couldn't help but smiled down at my water pokemon and be happy for how much she cares for me that she protects me from any sort of stupidity from my being. Bubbly looked up at me happily in my arms and blew more bubbles in my face, gentle ones that popped when they touched my skin.

"Bubbly! That tickles!"

My pokemon however didn't stop, she was having too much fun seeing me smile, and I didn't have the heart to make her stop. She continued to do that until we made it to the next town in the early day, Jubilife City.

The city itself was larger then any one I'd ever seen before, and my mother and I had traveled a bit when I was younger, so for this to seem so large, it was definitely huge. Buildings scaled over most of the city with bright advertising signs that glowed over the entire city, I couldn't imagine how anyone could sleep with all the lights and noise. People and cars were all over the place, it seemed to be nothing short of madness.

Once we got there, Bubbly was more then hungry. She whined when we finally got to a store so we'd stop for food. As much as I wanted to so I wouldn't displease her, we needed to get to the pokemon center first, where she could be her little glutton self. We only planned to stay here long enough to grab some food and rest a bit before moving on west to Oreburgh.

"Pip!" Bubbly pointed her little flipper in the direction of what appeared to be the pokemon center. I smiled at her and nodded as we crossed over lanes of traffic to reach there. We slipped past the cars that were rushing by in the streets and hurried into the large and busy building. Once we made it inside, I noticed that there was an enormous amount of people.

I felt nervous from the massive amounts of them, and it didn't help that Bubbly could feel the tension rolling off of me in waves. I kept pushing through the crowds, but as I got in further and further, the more restless and uneasy I felt. I felt so claustrophobic from all the people around me it started to affect my breathing. It began to get labored and I started to slow down.

I was suddenly pushed from behind, keeping me going in the same direction I was before with a force behind me. I dared to turn my head and it was Parker with his arm around me.

"I got you Eira, hang on, we'll be out of here soon enough." I hung close to him as he pushed me along to where I saw the counter at the very back with a nurse waiting for us.

"Hello! Welcome to our pokemon center." The woman greeted us at the counter. "Do any of your pokemon require healing?"

"Yes, my pokemon please," Parker handed over Turtwig, once he was returned into his pokeball.

"Mine too, if you have the time." Cameron also passed over his pokeball that contained Chimchar and the recently caught Bidoof.

The nurse took the three pokeballs in hand and placed them on a tray. "I'll be back momentarily."

I watched as the nurse hurried off into the other room and her partner pokemon chansey took her place as more trainers showed up. I hung close to the only two people I knew while I was here and had a death grip on Bubbly in my arms. She looked up at me worriedly but didn't spew out any bubbles, probably figuring out they wouldn't help me in situation.

I was just barely hanging in there as I watched the door frame for the nurse with the pokemon back for the guys. The fact that there was so many people was getting to me a bit. I hated crowded places, and while the city was nice to visit, I never liked to stay for long. My mother often had a hard time with me to try and get everything done when we went into the city. As I got older, she normally left me home with Honey or alone, or asked Cordelia to watch over me for a few hours while my mother was gone.

I breathed out a sigh of relief when I noticed the nurse come back with the pokemon that were taken off to be healed. "Here are your pokemon! All rested and ready to go! Have a good day!"

Once Parker had his pokemon back, he steered me strait out of the center and into a quiet, shady alleyway off to the side. I let out a breath I'd been holding and Parker patted my back.

"Sorry about that Eira, I forgot how much you hate busy places."

Cameron raised an eyebrow at that. "She doesn't like busy places?"

"Claustrophobic," Parker told him. "She's had issues with it a lot since we were kids. We're kinda hoping this journey will maybe get her used to at least walking around a city and slightly communicating by herself." Parker sighed. "So long as it's not that many people or its quiet, Eira will show or speak her mind to others. However, in the city, it makes her feel like there's no space to breathe because of all the people."

"Can we get food Parker?" I hated being talked about as if I wasn't even there, but I was glad Parker took charge to get me out of there. But now, I needed food for Bubbly and myself. We were hungry and if I didn't get this girl something to eat soon, she wouldn't be happy.

"Yeah, why not?" He patted my shoulder. "I know a place on the edge of the city so we won't see as many people and it will be more peaceful for you Eira. They served those good giant pizzas, remember?"

Bubbly licked her lips when she heard the name and looked up at me with eyes wide and begging. I smiled down at her and hugged her closer to my chest; just barely enough before I would hurt her.

"Yeah… I'd like that…"

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

True to Parker's word, he brought me, Cameron and our pokemon to the small pizza place on the edge of the city. It was a quiet little place with lots of greenery and flowers, along with being out of the business of the city and all its sounds.

Bubbly was happily enjoying a large meal before her while Cam and Parker were in a small argument. I was happy to see all my friends happy at that moment and no one stressing each other out, even I was calm an enjoying the moment. As long as I had a smile on my face while I was quiet or a curious look as I took in the world around me, Parker and the others didn't bother me much at all. I was happy for that, being in my own quiet mind was more then enough for myself.

Bubbly was in my lap and had soon finished her meal. When it was gone and no longer before her, she whined and turned to look at the boys with tears in her eyes. She wanted more. Her gluttonous stomach had no limit, and I imagined as she got stronger and evolved in the future, it would just get bigger.

"Bubbly… you just had all of your meal _and_ part of Eira's that she didn't finish…" Cameron sighed as he looked at her. "Why don't you wait a few minutes and see how you feel before we possibly get you some more food?"

Bubbly only pouted more and tried to use her good looks to make the boys forget about her anger towards them and get more of what she desired, and it was working. Because along with that cute look she was giving off, there was an anger inside her that would blow up if she didn't get what she wanted or if I was opposed or upset.

"You know she's not going to stop until she gets more right?" Parker questioned the other human male with us.

Cameron shook his head before turning to me. "Eira, why don't you teach Bubbly to be nicer to people? Being that mean will get her in trouble."

I blinked at him in shock. _Bubbly get in trouble? It wasn't all that bad… and she only did it to protect me or when she wanted more food… it wasn't that often was it?_

I held Bubbly closer to me, afraid she would be ripped from my arms. Parker saw this and quickly jumped to his feet. "You idiot! Don't talk to her like that! Now you got her all worked up over Bubbly being taken from her, which _won't_ happen!"

"And how in hell do you know that?" My eyes widened as I watched Cameron take a stand to my childhood friend. "I've lived and worked with that damn pokemon for years now and she's not about to change unless Eira does something about it! And if she doesn't, someone else will! Someone will report that pokemon harassing them and Bubbly will be taken away from her. Hell, you have no idea how often I've wanted to report her myself!"

My eyes widened and fell behind my locks of hair. I kept Bubbly as close as I could, crushing her to my chest. _I couldn't lose her… I just got her! She wasn't a bad pokemon!_ My entire body was shaking as fear raked through my body. My breathing was labored, sharp, short intakes of breath that was causing a squeaking sound. I was surprised I could make such a noise. Normally I just froze up in fear, but this time… I was reacting…

"Look what the fuck you did!" Parker snapped and I could hear the eerie silence on the other side of my hair that draped over my eyes, protecting me from seeing anything.

"Pip!" I felt Bubbly trying to calm me down, but the poor pokemon's efforts were once again in vain. I couldn't do anything but clutch her closer to me. Eventually Bubbly only just held me back, giving into me.

"Eira…" I heard Cameron sigh. "Look, I'm not trying to make you upset… but you need to something about Bubbly before she attacks someone other the two of us-"

"The only reason she attacks is because you upset me every chance you get!" I didn't know what came over me, but my heart was pumping into overdrive and I felt the heat from it racing all over my body. I was angry, and it was derived from my fear of losing a close friend that I treasured, even in this short span of time. "You're nothing but a prick to her and it bothers me! You do anything you can to make me uncomfortable and it upsets her! She's only protecting me because she knows just how apparently sensitive I am you _asshole_!"

I charged then, pushing past him and rushed off blindly into the wild unknown of whatever route we were on. Both boys cried out for me to stop, but I didn't dare listen to them. I was too angry, too fuming… too hot…

I somehow had made a good amount of distance and made it to the top edge of town. Maybe the northern end of it? I had no idea as I came closer to a grassy area with a path somewhat cut off by the soft green thing of nature. A hill was before me that was cut off by a cave that seemed to somehow help you climb from the lower point to the higher, a dark brown in color with some shades of dark grey and black. It was most likely man made for people to make it easier to get to the next town other then trying to make it all the way up the steep cliff.

Once I looked entirely around and saw that the boys were no where to be seen, I allowed my body to fall and sink to the ground, still clutching Bubbly close to my chest and cried fresh new tears that just kept falling out of my eyes. I couldn't stop them as Cameron's words continued to echo in my head.

Bubbly was still trying to get me to look at her since even before all of this started. She could tell I was over the edge, and needed comfort. Bubbly was trying to remove the tears that streamed down my face, but they were flowing too fast for her to keep up with. As soon as she took care of one, three replaced the hot path they left on my cheeks.

"Shinx?" I could just barely heard the new voice, but I was too hurt to look up as I couldn't stop myself from continuing to cry. My sobbing soon started and joined my tears; I couldn't stop it like I normally could.

"How dare he… how dare he…" A chocked sob came out of me as I thought of the boy I thought was a new friend, but nothing more then a prick who seemed to complain about the smallest thing when it came to Bubbly. I hated him for it… I didn't want Bubbly to be taken away, nor was I planning on having that happen. Cameron was overstepping his boundaries, and I hated it.

Hate may be a strong word, but right now, I hated everything about that male.

I hated how he thought just because he knew Bubbly for years means that he has control over her while she's clearly my pokemon. I hate how he makes the two of us upset every chance he gets, at least with Parker its an accident from his active nature. I hate how he thinks he knows it all when it comes to our pokemon's needs and feels he has to belittle me…

Maybe not all of theses things are true… but with my mind so raging in the internal flames of my body, I could hardly care if they were true or not.

I suddenly felt a new hand on my face, or… tongue? I lifted my head enough to look through my tears to see a different pokemon side by side with Bubbly. Bubbly herself was too worried over me to be bothered by a character that was trying to help. I saw this small pokemon was just about as big as her, but stood on its four legs instead. Its head was small and roundish with a small pointed nose coming off of its head. Its ears were round with pink insides for the skin and I felt the soft, thick fur against my hand when I reached for the new pokemon. The fur was closely matted down on its body, and it seemed to be normally other then a fluffy patch that was on its forehead. A couple whiskers came off the skids of its cheeks and golden rings of fur were around its wrists on its front paws. The front half of its body was a light blue while the second half was an entirely different color dependant on the split in the middle of its body. The second half was a very dark blue with a four pointed star attached on the end of a decently long tail that looked sharp to the touch. Its eyes were a liquid gold color that gazed up at me worriedly.

The pokemon itself jumped up and put its front paws gently on my chest and licked at my face. "Shinx!" I heard it cry to me.

 _This was the pokemon I heard a few moments ago… maybe it offered to help Bubbly?_ I looked at the pokemon and blinked some of my tears away while it and Bubbly tackled the rest. I couldn't help but reach into my bag and pull out my pokedex and find out what was before me. It was too adorable to pass up…

 _Shinx, the flash pokemon. The extension and contraction of its muscles generates electricity. Its fur glows when it's in trouble. Shinx normally love on routes two-oh-two, two-oh-three and two-oh-four and are also found on the outskirts of Valley Windworks._

I quietly reached my hand forward and touched the top of her head, now that I knew it was a girl thanks to the pokedex. The fur was soft; she was soft, and curled into my touch. She rubbed against my hand, giving me a focus and her attention. Bubbly didn't stop up, and in fact, seemed pleased that I had calmed down a bit.

"It seems like you've made a new friend Miss." I quickly looked up and the two pokemon before me quickly turned and growled at the man that dared to approach us. I saw that he was mostly hidden from us with a brown trench coat that hung over his body, but I could see the thinner body under it of a man in his early thirties or so, short black hair that looked buzzed off and coal like eyes. He leaned down before us in a crouch and extended his hand. "My name is Looker; I followed after you after I saw you yelling at your friend when he was being an ass to you. Are you alright?"

I was silently and eyeing the man in fear and it made my pokemon and the new one both growl and hiss out angrily. Looker glanced around at them before he seemed to pick up on something as enlightenment hit his face.

"I'm sorry; you're a bit more of the quiet type that likes space. Here, let me put a few more feet of distance between us." Looker took a few steps back and it was once he did that that I felt I could breath a bit more. I placed my hands gently on the two pokemon and they quieted down. There was no threat; he was trying to be kind. He noticed how sensitive I was and backed off for me.

Not many people are that smart or observant.

"Thank you…" I nodded to him before I pulled the pokemon back with me into my arms. "I'm Eira…" I looked to my pokemon. "This is Bubbly… and Elecky, my two pokemon."

The shinx, Elecky as I had decided because I didn't want to let her go, only gasped at me before rubbing my face heavily with her own, purring like crazy, much like Honey would for me when she was in a good mood.

"I see, well I'm glad to see you're a bit better off now Miss Eira." Looked smiled at me over his coat collar that hung a bit before his face, hiding his chin and nearly his mouth if it wasn't for the fact he was on the same level as us. "If you don't mind my asking however… have you seen any mysterious characters around? Or members of the IPHP League?"

"Uh-uh…" I shook my head at him, curious as to why he asked me. Not many bad things happen in Shinoh, and I didn't even know that the IPHP League was here. They were a group of trainers, some champions and best friends, family, and dating each other, who fought against the evil forces in regions and also again the infamous Rosalie Agustino and her brother Razi Harper, who have been at large for nearly five years now.

"Well, thank you anyway. You seemed like a person who might have seen a sliver of something but wasn't sure, so I thought I'd check. I'm partnered up with the League for an evil organization in this region, I'm sure I'll find them at some point, but could you keep any eye out for them, and if you see them, let me know?"

I shrugged at him. Its not like it would be a hard thing to do, and I had the time as I traveled.

"That's wonderful, I'll write down my number and hand it to you then and you can contact me whenever you find them, that would be wonderful. They're a noisy bunch, but can stick to the shadows all too well…" Looker handed me a small piece of paper with his number on it and I put it into my pocket before I forgot. "If I may suggest though, I would head over to the next town on the eastern route, take some time and get away from those two boys so you can cool down and they can think about what that rude one did."

I nodded to him, those were the soundest words of advice I heard all day. I reached into my backpack to grab a pokeball when I noticed something and sadly set down the bag.

"Miss Eira?" I turned my head to look at him with my eyes. "Is something wrong?"

"…All of my things are from Cameron…" And that was entirely true. The potions and pokeballs in my bag were all for Cameron just the other day when I'd gone to see the professor. He'd stocked me up for my trip, but the stubbornness inside me didn't want to use any of his items if all he was to me was a horrible person to my pokemon. "I don't want to use his items…

"Would you like to trade then?" I blinked up from my bag to the strange man I'd met. "I'll gladly take them off your hands and offer you money and a different pokeball for your shinx to capture her. So that way you don't have to use his items and you can pick up more later on when you hit the next town."

I slowly nodded to him before pulling out the many supplies I had on me. It was probably unwise to give him so many, even if he was giving me money in return, but I refused to keep them.

I handed Looker the items in hand and he returned me a good amount of money before handing me a white pokeball with a purple line in the middle and around the button. I was also surprised when he handed me a watch that was the same platinum color as my pokedex was.

I looked up at him questioningly. "…What is this?"

"That my dear, is a poketch. It is one of the newest phones, computer, and most everything else all in one device for trainers and most travelers. It just came out on the market and I happed to be gifted two. You can use it to call friends, check you location and see where you're going, research certain areas, check out local shops in towns… the list goes on and on. This way, you have a way to contract me if you do find the members of the IPHP League, or if you run into trouble and don't have to go running for a phone."

I scowled playfully at him. "That seems a bit too good to be true…"

"I figured as much, but just go with it; I bet it will help you out." Looker took a few steps back and turned away from me. "But I have to go, so I'll see you later Miss Eira! Have a good day!"

I watched the man walk away and disappear from my sight before I looked back to the pokeball in my hands. A primer ball was what it was called. It was said that this ball was a special pokeball only given out on rare occasion. It was said to mark special events and such when used, and I couldn't think of one better then the first capture of my first wild pokemon.

But I had to be fair to her, and keep up my promise to myself.

I set down Elecky for a moment and she blinked at me in confusion. "Shinx?"

"I'm not telling you to leave Elecky… I just wanted to give you the choice before I decided it for you… Do you want to join my team? I won't force you to, and I won't do that with any of the pokemon that agree to come along with me."

Elecky glanced at me in shock before she raced forward to the pokeball in my hands. I gasped as she was sucked in and the ball closed. It shook in my hands for only a moment or two before settling down instantly. My eyes were wide as I watched the ball as it lay still in my hands. Precious seconds passed before the overwhelming feeling that was now taking over my body was excitement and happiness compared to the anger I felt only moments before.

"We have a new friend Bubbly…"

"Pip!"

I let the pokeball roll out of my hands and Elecky was released before us, now classified as my own pokemon. She grinned up at me as soon as she saw myself and Bubbly and she jumped into my arms. I felt her snuggle herself into my embrace and I could feel the emotions swelling inside my heart. It felt good to have another close friend… another pokemon was willing to stand by me, and by their own choice… I thought that would be the hardest part…

I dared to look at my new poketch on my wrist and noticed how late it was getting. I pouted and looked back to the city a little longer before standing up and taking Bubbly into my arms while Elecky rested her body on my shoulder.

Now I had two pokemon… Bubbly, my piplup and a water type… Elecky, my shinx and an electric type… I think I did well with naming them after their types… and still kept them cute… even if Elecky was a strange name… I would accept that burden easily, because she's my pokemon now.

I started walking in the direction of the route that would lead to the city to the west. Both of my pokemon kept an eye out for Cameron and Parker while we escaped them. I didn't want to be found, especially not now.

At least for a little bit…

 **Looker's Point of View:**

After leaving the girl, I headed back into the city easily enough and grabbed my poketch, quickly calling one of my most recent clients on speed dial, even if I only continued to reach her voicemail…

"Violet, it's Looker. I know you're busy, but I think you might want to call me back when given the chance. No sign of Team Galactic yet, but I did happen to meet a girl, a skittish little one that was quite sensitive and just a beginning trainer. However, she was strong, even if she doesn't know it yet. Like yourselves, she puts out a powerful aura; she'll be like you and the others in the League. Call me soon and I can give you her information. I'll have her entirely researched by the morning." I closed the call and kept walking, not bothering to stop as I traveled further into city at night, looking just as bright as in the daytime.

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Oh my God, finally! You guys wouldn't notice it, but I'd been stuck on this chapter for months! But now I've moved past it and I should be able to keep my pace soon! I can't wait to get to later chapters where things start to pick up, but for right now, baby steps for Eira. We gotta ease her into this!**

 **The poor girl is so sensitive… but now look! We have her a new friend and teammate! Elecky the shinx! I know we didn't get to see her much, but we will soon enough. I plan to add in more with her in the next few chapters, and we'll get more in depths with all of her pokemon in time, but for now, I must go and work! And sleep!**

 **Love you all and see you next week! Don't forget to Review and send in Questions!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	5. Town of Miners

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 5: Town of Miners_

 **Eira's Point of View:**

Bubbly, Elecky and I ended up spending the rest of the day making the long trek toward the next town over, Oreburg. I'd made it there at sunrise at five in the morning, so while it was just starting to turn light, we stopped at a pokemon center and got some rest before we would plan to battle the gym leader.

Once I'd woken from my nap, I was shocked to actually see that the two of my pokemon were ponytaing around the room, making a mess of things that I knew I'd have to take care of before I left. But it was alright, I was just happy that they were having fun. It was good to see that Bubbly was actually having some fun for once and being allowed to play rather then loom over me and worry if I was upset or not. Elecky seemed to really bring out the young pokemon in her.

Elecky on the other hand was a bright young shinx that seemed to really love affection. She kept snuggling up next to me during the day like I was a bed for her to kneed. She never was painful though, she was good. She just was a really good snuggler. I enjoyed it a lot since it reminded me a lot of Honey.

"Morning…" both of the pokemon turned to me and looked at my small smile. I saw them both grin wildly before they jumped at me. I giggled as they pushed me to the ground and snuggled into my body. "That tickles!"

It was the most emotion I'd expressed in a long time. It felt good… Maybe starting this journey was a good idea for me after all…

But then came the serious part of being a trainer… I'd never battled and I planed to have a battle with a gym leader… this would probably be really hard… I didn't know if I should put my pokemon through because we'd never done this before yet.

"Bubbly… Elecky… I need to ask you two something…" Both of the two of them settled down for a moment so I could pull them into my lap so we could talk. "We're never trained together or battled… should we still battle the guy leader? I feel like we should train a bit before hand… but I'm not quite sure how to do that…"

"Piplup!" Bubbly threw her flipper into the air. "Lup! Piplup pip!"

"Really? You know what to do?" I blinked at her. "What do I need to do?"

Bubbly then proceeded to go in-depth of what she's seen other trainers do with their pokemon, which was call out orders to their pokemon during battle and help them take down the other person's pokemon.

"Okay… so I tell you what to do in battle… to help you out since you're on the front line?" Bubbly and Elecky nodded to me. "Okay, so I call out an attack, or to dodge, or tell you how to evade attacks and so on?" They nodded again. "Okay… then since this… first gym is a rock one, only Bubbly should go in?"

"Pip." Bubbly sternly nodded to me.

"Shinx…" Elecky sighed, but she knew it was true. Electric types normally get killed by rock types, or ground, so it wasn't fair to put her against something she couldn't handle.

I rubbed the top of my shinx's head. "Don't worry Elecky… we'll find a gym battle perfect for you." She seemed to perk up at that. She nodded her head and I was forced to think of a good place to train before we would challenge the gym leader.

"We should… check out the mine… I heard trainers and wild pokemon of rock and ground types are there…" I looked at the other two. "What do you think?"

"Pip!"

"Shinx!"

I smiled at them. "Shall we go then? After breakfast that is."

My pokemon were already ahead of me and jumping at the door. I smiled at them, hurrying to catch up before they got too out of control or out of my sight.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"Wow…" My pokemon and I gasped in awe as we looked ahead to the amazing, rounded structure of stone above our heads once we had entered the mine. It seemed endless as our eyes trailed in every direction, trying to take the massive opening in. The rocks seems to be smoothed out over our heads in the grand and wide entrance where conveyer belts were taking out lots of materials, which seemed to be coal, and rare metals such as gold and silver. I watched as my shinx's eyes glittered as she saw them and I had to race and grab her before she ran off after the glittering ore.

"We should go find some pokemon to train against." Elecky whined at me while I walked ahead and Bubbly bounced around my feet. We moved deeper inside and the tunnel began to narrow out as we made our way closer to the inner tunnels. It got a bit darker down there, which put me a bit more at ease, being so used to the shadows of the other world I visit in my dreams. Shadows and darkness never bothered me. Ghosts surprisingly didn't either. They were more peaceful then others, they were… predictable in a way…

Small lamps of light were hung up on the walls with wires connecting them. It was interesting to look at them and follow the many trails as I made my way further down in the tunnels. Elecky was now taking interest in the lighting while Bubbly kept marching ahead of my feet and checking the tunnels before I got to them to see if they had people or pokemon.

Eventually we made it down a few levels and we finally saw some minors that seemed to be in dirty uniforms as they dug through the earth at the side of their pokemon. I blinked and watched them from a distance.

"Hey kid!" I jumped and turned as a man approached me. Bubbly jumped before me and Elecky growled in my arms. The man backed up. "Whoa! Whoa now… you looked lost, I just was checking in on you."

"Elecky, Bubbly, down." Both of my pokemon backed off, but they kept their eyes on the man. I looked up at him and he grinned at me. "Sorry… I was just looking for a few pokemon to train against in here…"

"Really? Why didn't you just say so?" he pulled out a pokeball. "I'm on a break right now if you'd like a quick battle. But I warn you, I won't hold back just because you're a cute little girl."

I tilted my head at him. "That's fine…"

"Alright then! Let's go Onix!" My eyes trailed upward as I watched the rock snake pokemon emerge and appear before the three of us. Elecky looked up in awe at the pokemon before Bubbly jumped forward.

"Piplup!" She turned back to me and grinned.

"Right… Bubbly, start out with bubble beam." My voice was soft, but it portrayed a bit of a command at my pokemon. Bubbly grinned madly before she jumped up in the air and she sucked in a long breathe before bubbles came spiraling out of her mouth. They shot forward and hit the rock type head on and it roared out in pain.

I flinched at that and backed away slightly. Elecky felt my uneasiness and patted my arm with her paw. It steadied me as I knew she was with me. I turned my head back up to the battle to watch the giant rock snake pokemon be thrown into a wall and the area shook a bit from it.

"Bubbly!" I called out and my pokemon turned herself around and rushed back to me and watched for falling rocks before the placed settled. I looked forward to the guy a head of me who was holding onto the wall.

"Damn kid! You're one tough cookie!" The man grinned at me and came a bit more into the light for me to notice his darker skin. "I bet you wanna challenge the gym leader too."

"Yeah… coming into the mines was a way of training before them…" I looked at the ground. "It was my first time in battle and with Bubbly too."

"What?" His eyes went wide and were a snow white against his skin with black centers looking at me. "Your first time? Damn you got strong pokemon! Where'd you get this one from?"

I glanced up at him worriedly. "Professor Rowan…"

"The pokemon professor? Who knew he had a powerful pokemon hidden away!" He laughed before he motioned me to follow him. "Here, follow me and I can take you to the gym leader. I've been working for him for years and if you can take out my onix that easily, I _know_ you're more then ready to face him."

The man waited for me a bit of distance away while he returned his pokemon and Bubbly looked back for permission from me. I nodded to her and she started to walk after the man that we'd just battled.

 _Were all battles that easy thought?_ I wasn't sure as I followed the man deeper into the tunnels where more machines seemed to be located near more men with their pokemon and tools to harvest the ore. The man passed by his co-workers as he pated them on the shoulder and would whisper words to some of them and they'd point their arm in some certain direction that he'd follow and me blindly after that.

After a good long while, I ended up seeing an opening that the darker skinned man led me to. We made it to a huge, underground area in the mind that seemed to be mostly cleared out on all the walls that were too thick to break other then a large square like ore that seemed to be in the middle of the room with some dirt around its edges. It was black in color, which made me think of coal, but shiny pieces would stick out of here or there which made me think metal, but who knew?

"Hey Roark!" A lighter skinned man raised his head and looked to be in his early twenties as he stood up with dirt all over his face. At his side was a strange looking pokemon that looked to have a thick, hard head with tiny little arms and a small body and long tail, often reminding me of some of the prehistoric pokemon that could be revived from fossils. The pokemon was grey and blue with sharp teeth in its mouth and was happily using its head to bash at the ore before itself.

The man rose from where he was working. Glasses sat on his face with thick black rims and square shapes while hair that reached nearly his shoulders of a maroon color curled around his face from the sweat that coated it. A minor uniform was over himself, grey in color, but also covered in dirt and some of the coal that he was tying to break up.

"Hey man! What's up Ty?" This Roark character turned around to face the black man I'd faced and the two slapped their hands before them before "fist bumping" as I'd heard Parker called it before.

"Found you a trainer to face you, she beat me in one move and it was her first match!" This Ty guy gave me a look before patting the man's back. "I think this would even overwhelm you!"

"Yeah, we'll see about that." The maroon haired man turned to me and smiled. "Hey there! You looking to challenge me and the Oreburg Gym?"

"Um… yes?" I held on tight to Elecky and Bubbly cried out at my feet, huffing out her chest.

The man blinked at me and turned to his friend. " _This_ girl beat you?"

"Dude, don't underestimate her." Ty nudged him. "She may be really shy, but she's _strong_."

"Well, if you say so…" The maroon haired man whistled to his pokemon who was still hitting the stone. "Come on Cranidos, we got a gym battle to win!"

The creature cooed before slamming its head one more time and then rushed after its trainer. I looked after the two of them and Ty laughed.

"Go after him girl, go beat his ass and get his badge." I nodded softly before silently following after the maroon haired man who led me out of the tunnels.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Following a different man around the mine and back outside after only a single battle to test our strength, it was strange, I though I would need to train more, be more on top of that before we could really do that. But apparently, to those men at least, I seemed ready. I knew Bubbly was. She was incredibly strong and easily had taken out my friends and that man's onix earlier on with only a single attack. I imagined it would be the same way with Elecky, she seemed more then capable as we slowly got to know each other more.

I followed the man named Roark back to the gym in the middle of the desolate town of rocks and dirt. The gym seemed to be made out of rocks entirely, even the walls and columns that seemed to hold up a stone roof. The gym leader must have been pretty confident in fixing this place if he had it set up like this. Stones of many colors were around the gym, colorful really. I couldn't help but be amazed at the rocks as if they were like an artwork living around me.

"Alright then, as I'm sure you know, my name is Roark Agate. I'm the gym leader of this town and I use rock types." The gym leader looked at me questioningly. "I'm not sure about you kid, but I trust my man Ty, so I'm gonna give you a chance. Beat me, and my badge is yours. You need it and seven others from across this region in order to participate in the Pokѐmon League. Got it?"

"Yes…" The man was skeptical of me, and that was fine, but he shouldn't be of my pokemon, and that's what my made blood start to boil. I may not be a strong trainer; I'd just started out a few days ago. But the bonds I'd made already with my pokemon were stronger then most trainers had with pokemon they've trainer with for years. Their wills were strong, and for them, I would be strong.

I'd do anything for them.

"Alright, let's start out then, just don't get upset if this doesn't work out for you." Roark pulled out a pokeball and threw it out onto the field. It was the small rock type pokemon named geodude. This species was originally founded in the Kanto region and was a rock and ground type, so going against type with Bubbly would be perfect for me.

"First move to the challenger." Roark gestured to me.  
"Okay… Bubbly?" My pokemon nodded and jumped out onto the field. "Use bubblebeam on it."

"Pip!" My pokemon made up for the energy I seemed to lack as her attack went flying forward and slammed into the rock type. The pokmeon cried out and was thrown behind Roark and he whipped out his head to watch.

"Shit!" Roark cried out as he watched his pokemon become swamped in the attack. You couldn't see any part of his pokemon as the bubbles overtook it and suddenly the body fell.

"Let up Bubbly. I think it's had it." My pokemon cut off her attack and jumped up and down in her place. Roark glanced over at me in shock before he returned his fallen pokemon that was saturated on the ground.

"No fucken way!" I was surprised to see Roark actually excited now and it made my heart beat a little faster in shock. "I thought that this was going to be a dead end match! But damn girl! Look at that! Your attitude doesn't match how strong you really are! Come on! I wanna battle you more! I wanna beat your little spitfire of a piplup!"

 _I'm strong?_ I was shocked by his wording. Never would I ever have through I was strong… I was always the shy and weak one that hid behind my mother and Parker for most of my life as things happened. But there was a time when I wasn't like that, back before the accident… but that was a long time ago… a _very_ long time ago. I was different now, but even so, I could feel the excitement of when I was a young child and loved pokemon and battles before everything happened. I felt blood pounding through my veins, something I normally associated only with fear, but this time… it was excitement!

"Then send out your next pokemon!" I didn't know where the energy was coming from, but it was almost addicting to have in my system. I haven't felt like this in years… something that I feel like I was always missing from my life and haven't been able to feel for nearly ten years.

"I like where this is going!" Roark pulled out another pokeball. "Let's go Onix!"

Like before with Ty, I saw a rock snake appear before us. Bubbly was determined and now that I felt a fire burning in my body, I was more energized then I'd felt in forever… who would have through that battling would bring out me from the past? The one that I'd missed for so long? It was… refreshing…

These were good memories filtering through my body and changing to energy to use on him.

"Bubbly! Water gun!" I was surprised at the power in my voice and how it echoed on the walls. Is that what its like to shout? I grinned as my pokemon did too, I could almost feel her energy and Elecky's passing through me and back to them as Bubbly battled.

Bubbly's attack shot through the air and I was surprised when her attack only managed to hit the tail as the onix moved fast to avoid getting hit.

"Not this time kid! Onix, use rock throw!"

My eyes widened in fear as chunks of rock were ripped from the columns holding this place up and hurled at my pokemon.

"Run Bubbly!" My pokemon complied and took off across the field. I was actually shocked when I saw her gunning for the actually pokemon itself while dodging the rocks.

 _Wait…_ the excited part of my brain kicked back in when she didn't get hurt. _If Bubbly gets in close… the pokemon can't use that attack because she'd use the attack on itself!_

"Go Bubbly!" It was so strange to hear myself shout. "Use bubblebeam!"

"Pip!" She screeched out and fired the blast right under the jaw of the rock snake pokemon. It cried out and fell. Bubbly had to jump back to avoid getting crushed under the giant body above her. She cheered as it crashed into the ground and I clapped my hands.

"Amazing Bubbly!" My pokemon cheered back at me and I smiled at her. "That's two pokemon down! Only one to go!"

"I can't believe it!" I turned my head back to Roark and he was shocked as he looked out onto the battlefield. "You may be shy out of battle kid, but your strong, keep it up and you'll make it high in the future. But this battle could still go either way if I manage to beat your piplup, since that electric type of yours wouldn't last more then a few seconds on the field with my rock types!" Roark turned to his side and looked at his last pokemon, the one that was helping him in the tunnels. "Let's go Cranidos!"

The pokemon ran out onto the field and this one was not one that came up in memory of being seen before. I pulled out the professor's gift of the pokedex and pointed it at the other pokemon. _Cranidos, the head butt pokemon. A lifelong dweller from one-hundred million years ago, it would snap obstructing trees with head butts. There are no known nests for this pokemon in this region._

"A rock type only…" I wondered if this would affect us differently. I looked over at Bubbly and she nodded back at me before glaring at the apposing pokemon. "Bubbly, start out with water gun!"

"Pip!" She fired away the watery blast before she jumped into the air to get the attack to slam toward the opposing pokemon. It jumped up out of the way without an order from its trainer and Roark smirked.

"Nice job there Cranidos! Now smash your head into it with head butt!" With blinding speed, the pokemon slammed into my own and threw Bubbly away from me. My eyes went wide and my hand raced to cover my mouth.

"Got it! That pokemon of yours can dish it out, but it can't take it, can it?" Roark gloated from his box on the other side of the field. Hid pokemon smirked and dug its feet into the ground, getting ready to charge on command. "Send out your next pokemon already!"

"Bubbly!" I ignored the man and turned to the wall, looking where my pokemon had crashed. Rocks were in her way so I couldn't see her body, not one little speck. Her bright blue was hidden by the dark colored rocks.

And that scared me.

"BUBBLY!" I'd never heard my voice hit such loud volumes, I was petrified. Maybe I wasn't ready to face gym leaders after all…

"PIPLUP!" The tears welling in my eyes were short away from the cold water that blasted out of the wall. Light was shining behind it and the rocks blew away with such force that they were chucked into the enemy pokemon and pushed it back. Roark and his pokemon glanced in shock as Bubbly jumped back onto the field, glowing in a bright light that overtook her.

Both hands of my raced to my mouth to hush the loud gasp that threatened to escape as she glowed before me. I watched her form grow in size and become nearly as tall as myself. Her feathers were no longer smooth looking on her head as two thick smoothed bone like structures that seemed to be rounded on the top of her head and connect to her beak appeared. Her wings became thicker, longer and came to a point and her head was no longer rounded, but was more oval and the neck nearly as big as it as it attached to the rest of her body.

The white color vanished with a throw of her wings before her and I saw that my pokemon had evolved. Her coloring had slightly changed. Dark blue feathers overtook the top half of her body and her entire back side and most of her wings. It looked like the blue feathers were the adult ones in the end while the light blue and white were child like down feathers. The light blue and white was left only to the lower half of her chest now and just above her yellow webbed feet. Her beak was attached to the rounded hardened material over the top of her head, which was all yellow in color. Bubbly looked back at me to show me her onyx eyes and grinned at me.

"Bubbly…" Tear slipped from my eyes. "You're okay…"

"Prin! Prinplup prin!" She turned her eyes back to the battle and I pulled out my pokedex to see what she was now.

 _Prinplup, the penguin pokemon and the evolved form of piplup. Because every prinplup believes themselves to be the most important, they can never form a group. Its wings deliver wicked blows that snap even the thickest of trees. It searches for prey in icy seas. There are no known prinplup nests in this region._

 _Prinplup…_ I looked at my pokemon as she stuck out her chest in pride, not a mark on her from the previous attack. She was more then fine…

 _I should have believed in her rather then screaming my head off… I still have a lot to learn…_

"Prin!" I looked up as she looked back at me, determination in her eyes.

 _Worry about me later… we have a battle to win…_ I bit the inside of my lip and nodded to her. She was right, we had a battle to win, and it was time I got over myself. I could work on stuff later, but it was time to get back at Roark.

"Bubbly, metal claw!" The tips of her wings became incased in metallic energy and she rushed forward as she jumped into the air.

"Dodge!" The carnidos jumped as soon as it could, moving out of Bubbly's way. She calmly looked at the pokemon. Not bothered at all by the fact that it had moved.

"After it! Get it in the air where it can't move!" My pokemon leapt up into the air where the rock type was hovering. Roark and his pokemon could only look in shock as Bubbly made it above them and pulled back her arm and swung it down, hard, on the cranidos. The rock type pokemon slammed into the ground, creating a crater in the middle of the battlefield.

She was so strong… It was incredible to watch her intense strength, even more so then before. Bubbly was always strong… but it wasn't until now that she could evolve… was that because of me?

When the pokemon was slammed into the ground, Bubbly landed next to it and huffed out her chest. The battle… was over…

Roark looked across the field with wide eyes at my pokemon and me before walking out onto the field and looking down into the crater to find his pokemon. Cranidos was hidden under a lot of rubble, but you could barely see the blue of the pokemon's head through the gravel. Roark pulled his pokemon out from the dirt and held him in his arms.

"You won then kid." Roark sighed as he returned his pokemon. "Man did your pokemon overwhelm me… I was not expecting that when I first met you." He smiled and moved out of the crater back to me and my pokemon. "I have a feeling that if my pokemon weren't all rock types, your electric type would have worked just as hard against me."

"Shinx!" Elecky called out. Electricity was bouncing off her body as she glared at the gym leader. He raised his hands in surrender.

"Hey, regardless, you guys still won and beat me hands down." Roark reached into his pocket and pulled something out, which he held in his fist. "What's your name?"

"Eira… Eira Helaine…"

"Well Eira, here's your gym badge, the coal badge." I took the silver badge in hand and when I looked at it, I was surprised to see that it was shaped like a boulder pokeball. Its colored was that of a grayish black for coal, I guessed. It shined when I looked at it and I quickly pulled out my case and placed it inside of it so I wouldn't lose it.

I looked back up at him. "Thank you…"

"No problem. I guess I have a lot of training to do in order to be able to even compare to what strength you have. But I will do it!" Roark grinned at me. "I'll let the next gym leader, Gardenia, know that you're on your way to battle her. She has her gym all the way up in Eterna City, so it will be a while before you get up there. She may take you out through unless you find a flying or fire type. She's a grass type gym leader. And she's _strong_."

"Okay… I will…" I nodded to him while Bubbly stood at my side and Elecky I held in my arms. "Good-bye…"

The gym leader waved me off as I left his gym and headed to the pokemon center. On the way there, I couldn't but smile at us… because of Bubbly… we won our first badge… she was strong… she'd help me get stronger, same with Elecky…

"Shinx!" Elecky jumped from my arms and landed on top of Bubbly as she pranced next to me. Both of the two of them grinned back up at me before rough housing on the street as they kept up with me walking to the center.

The day had actually come to an end. I was surprised to see the dark sky looming over our heads and a new moon there as well. No moon in the sky and darkness all around. It made me think of the other world that I'd see in my dreams when I was surrounded by the shadows. I felt comfort in it compared to the light of the busy city life or day time in general.

"Eira?" My love of the night shattered as I turned my head and there stood Parker. I hadn't seen him since the day prior when I ran from him and Cameron. I whipped my body around to see him with his grass type. For once, Turtwig wasn't energetic, but he was watching our every move. I watched the two of them eye my new pokemon and the fact that Bubbly had evolved. Parker seemed to turn a little green at the sight of her, realizing how much stronger she must have been since there was an evolution now between his pokemon and my own.

"What?" My energy high of the day was still running a bit through my system, so I had a bit to spare when threatening my best friend. He raised his hands in defense and Turtwig huddled behind his leg for protection.

"Relax Eira. Cam's not with me." Those words instantly made me ease, but I kept up my façade. Parker sighed. "After you ran off crying yesterday, I screamed at Cameron for the longest of time before I told him to take a hike while I looked for you all over the city. I met this older dude who had met you, someone by the name of … Looker I think. He told me you headed off to the next city and that you needed a bit of space from Cameron, but I should make my own judgment when coming back to see you." Parker paused for a moment before looking at me sadly. "Are you mad at me Eira?"

"No… just _him_." Parker nodded, understanding.

"Well, we don't have to worry about him for a while. He headed back to Jubilife to help out Professor Rowan with a project or two he had going and a couple conferences. We can stay here for the night and after I get my gym badge tomorrow, do you wanna head that way to get to the next gym?"

I debated about it for a moment. Parker had never done me wrong, so it wasn't fair to hold him out to dry like this when it was Cameron's fault that this all happened. So long as it was Parker, I was okay with that.

"Maybe…" I showed Parker one of my rare smiles. "Battle me."

"…Say what?"

"Beat me and I'll go with you, if I win, you come with me." I smirked at my wording, either way I'd be traveling with my best friend. Parker seemed confused by it and the look on my face.

"Eira…? Are you feeling okay?"

"Of course I am… I just… remembered what it was like to be happy, excited." My smile calmed down at bit and he seemed to be taken back by it. "It's been years since I've felt like this. You and Mom were right… I needed this…"

"Wow…" Parker's eyes went wide. "I never thought you'd change this much in such a short amount of time…" Parker grinned. "Fine I'll battle you! One on one!" He calmed down a bit and pulled back his arm. "Hey, I only got one pokemon still thought…"

"Then I'll use Elecky." My electric type looked up at me in my arms before she meowed a cheer and jumped from my arms. She landed before me in the road and sent off sparks all over her body as she prepared for her first battle against a grass type.

"Cool! Let's start!" Parker grinned and jumped back from me. "Go Turtwig!" His grass type rushed forward and grinned at the type match up. I knew Elecky wouldn't easily beat him, but it was better then having her against a rock type where she couldn't even use her attacks.

But Trutwig was _only_ a grass time, and that made it so Elecky could hurt him, just like Bubbly could.

"Alright Turtwig, use tackle!" Parker's pokemon rushed forward with a nearly blinding speed and hit Elecky head on. She cried out, but flipped in the air and growled angrily at him as she landed on the ground before me. I only smiled sweetly at my best friend as he started to get nervous at my pokemon, who _wasn't_ Bubbly.

"Elecky, use spark!" Elecky grinned before she was covered in electricity and rushed forward and slammed her body into Turtwigs. He screeched out before being thrown back at Parker, utterly defeated.

"Yes!" My smile grew wide and I held my hands close to my chest to keep my heart from bursting from all the happiness I could feel. "Another battle!"

"Nice Eira!" Parker happily looked at me from his side as he picked up his pokemon. "I got beat by my best friend, wow that puts a sour bone in my body. I'll have to work harder to beat you next time we battle."

"Anytime Parker, I love battling!" And it was true. I felt nothing but adrenaline as a battle took place, they were so much fun, I couldn't help but want more.

But I had to think of my pokemon too, they needed their rest.

"Shall we head to the pokemon center then? I think their serving pizza tonight…" I smiled as Parker started to drool and so did Bubbly at my side.

"Hell yeah! Let's go-whoa!"

A glowing bright light appeared before me and I was surprised it was my shinx. She cheered as she was enveloped in a bright white light and her figure got larger. She grew in size, coming up much higher now and I wasn't going to be able to carry her. She soon reached my chest in height with her head and some more fur seemed to grow on her. When the light vanished, I saw she had, for the most part, stayed the same, other then the darker fur like mane that seemed to be slowly creeping around the back of her head to the front, down her cheeks and down her back.

"Lux!" Elecky jumped up onto me and licked my face before knocking me over. I couldn't help but laugh at her. I slipped out my pokedex and pointed it wherever my hand could reach with her smothering licks and my laughter.

 _Luxio, the spark pokemon and the evolved form of shinx. Strong electricity courses through the tips of its sharp claws. A light scratch causing fainting in foes. It lives in small groups. Luxio nests are rare and are only found on route two-twenty-two and before Fuego Ironworks._

"I'm so happy for you Elecky…" She looked down at me before laying down on my chest and cuddling with me. I let out a hearty laugh, a rare treat indeed, and Parker bent down by my head.

"Yeah, this trip has been really good for you." He smiled at me and held out his hand. "You should let your mother know, I know she'd be really happy to know that."

I smiled and nodded to him before taking his hand. He pulled me up and Elecky moved off of me so I could get to my feet.

"Let's go get a room and rest then Eira. I need to after you beat my ass so badly."

I grinned at him, positive emotions filtering through me so fast that I was nearly being overwhelmed. I ran ahead of Parker and he laughed before he ran to keep up with me. "No fair! Cheater!"

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Wow, that was a nice long chapter, been a while since I typed a pokemon one of that. It feels so good to do that kind of stuff! I've actually been working slowly on this and another story, with school; I've hardly had any time. It's been a bitch… but I'm doing the best I can! I will finish this serious no matter what!**

 **So how did you like what happened to Eira in this chapter? She went through a lot of emotions and is starting to realize a bit of what she and her pokemon are capable of. Soon enough, she'll be getting a bigger team and more pokemon to deal with and possibly come more out of her shell and see so many more emotions!**

 **Love you all and see you next week! Don't forget to send in more Questions and Reviews! I love to hear from you guys and what you think!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	6. Professor Rowan's Defense

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 6: Professor Rowan's Defense_

 **Eira's Point of View:**

After our night over in the pokemon center, I followed after Parker over to where he battled Roark for his first gym match, and the scary part was, that even though Parker had the type advantage, he almost lost. It was a very closer match. But Parker made it in the end and earned his first gym badge. Once he had it in hand, he was eager to battle any trainer he came a cross and asked if we could stay another couple hours so he could train with Turtwig. I nodded to him and went out to get us some lunch while he did as such.

My two pokemon and I enjoyed some wonderful sandwiches and saved a couple for Parker and Trutwig for when we met up with them at a later time, but I was surprised to see that Turtwig had actually managed to evolve after all the training. It took a lot of hard work, but Parker quickly caught up to us, even if he still couldn't match Bubbly or Elecky in battle.

His pokemon had evolved into grotle. The pokemon itself was larger now and green armor almost seemed to gather around its larger limbs. It still was on all four legs, but its face was more pointed with a sharper beak like mouth and bushes were growing out of its back that gave off a pleasant sent when I rubbed my fingers in them, and Grotle seemed to like that.

 _Grotle, the grove pokemon and the evolved form of turtwig. It knows where pure water wells up. It carries fellow pokemon there on its back. The shell on its back is hardened soil. Some pokemon come to peck the berries growing on the trees on its back. There are no known grotle nests in this region._

After the two of them had eaten the food that we'd gotten them, Parker and I decided to head back to Jubilife City where we would rest and battle a bit more before we would head over to the city to the north on our way to Eterna. We would stop in Floroma Town, just west of Eterna with a giant forest in between the two.

I was excited to battle more and possible meet more pokemon. So far, I only had Bubbly and Elecky, would I only have female pokemon? Or would I have male too? Since there was a plant or two on the way, I heard that pokemon seemed to collect in those areas of the fire and electric types. A fire type would be wise to have when we were on our way to the second gym, since it was a grass type gym.

Parker already had that taken care of. While we were on our way back to Jubilife, he managed to catch himself a starly. The little bird pokemon was a sweetheart and seemed to enjoy picking berries and giving them to us along the way back to the city. It had mostly black feathers all over its body with some small white down on its chest with orange legs. Its face looked very childish and almost chibi in its features. It had a sweet smile on its beak always and seemed to love landed on both of Parker and my shoulders here and there, jumping between us and over the other three pokemon we had.

 _Starly, the starling pokemon. Because they are weak individually, they form groups. However, they bicker if the group grows too big. Starly nests are very common and can be found on routes two-oh-one, two-oh-two, two-oh-three, two-oh-four, and also nest Lake Verity._

His cute little bird pokemon was fast and strong, so it wouldn't take long to get it ready for when he would face off against the gym. My options were thin, I'd either have to find a fire, ice, bug or flying type to take out those grass types, or I would need to teach Bubbly some ice type moves. And I would do that anyway, but… there was still the factor that she was still a water type. She would get hurt pretty easily, even if her defense went up incredibly. Grass types still really hurt water types. Even my will power couldn't change that.

But I had time; we still had to pass through two different cities, a few routes and a maze like forest before we could even get closer to Eterna. I would figure something out before then. And if it came down to it, grass and electric types just don't hurt each other, but there was still normal type moves.

Parker and I spent most of the morning traveling back to Jubilife in record time. It was just shy of noon, nearly forty-eight hours since my fight with Cameron. I felt sour about the exchange, but I wasn't about to let that ass stop me.

Excuse my langue…

When we got back to the city, I shrunk a bit as I looked at all the towering building, honking horns, and loud people that were walking around. Parker could sense the uneasiness running off of me and took my hand into his.

"Don't worry Eira, I'm right here, and so are you pokemon." I nodded to him and just looked down at the ground, watching my footing as I slowly started to step forward and walk, Parker and my pokemon being my eyes and ears and keeping people away from me. When another foot came into my vision, I'd gasp lightly and my pokemon would growl and the people would move away. But most people tended to stay away anyway with how closer my pokemon were to me. Only a couple of people actually almost ran into me, however, they scrambled when they saw just how angry my pokemon were at others.

It didn't take long for us to get to the other side of the town and I was more then happy for that. I could see that flower fields were coming up upon the area that led to the flowing town to the north.

"I'll say… Eira? Parker? Is that the two of you?" I finally lifted my head to see, in shock, both Professor Rowan and Cameron standing there on the edge of town, eating a homemade lunch packed for the two of them.

"Professor!" Parker grinned and rushed to him with his two pokemon. The professor grinned at him as he approached to shake Parker's hand, but Parker pushed it away and grabbed the man into a tight hug. "Man it is so good to see you! You wouldn't believe how much stronger Eira and I got! We got our first badges in Oreburg!"

"That's incredible to hear boy." Parker let go of the man and allowed him to take a good look at me with my two pokemon at my side. Bubbly smiled at him, okay with her old trainer before me and Elecky just looked at him curiously. She tilted her head to the side, looking at him, before I patted her head and smiled.

"Professor… you look well…"

"Quite… you seem to have a smile to you now; it makes me ever so joyous to see that." The professor patted my shoulder before he pulled me into a light hug, one that I allowed. The professor pulled back and smiled at me before his face hardened and he turned back to Cameron behind him. I didn't look directly at him, avoiding his face entirely by looking at Parker or the ground. My pokemon felt the uneasiness waves flow off of me and they started to growl. Cameron backed away, I could see him in the corner of my vision, but the professor grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Cameron, regardless of you intent on what you told Eira days ago, it was wrong. You need to apologize to that girl this instant."

"Why? I didn't do anything wrong! I'm sorry if she couldn't handle the truth about her pokemon!"

What happened in the next second actually shocked me. I watched the man's hand fly forward and Cameron was backing away from him after a firm 'smack' sound could be heard in the air. All three of us children were shocked by the force Professor Rowan used on Cameron. In a way, it made me feel really good to see him like that so Cameron would change his attitude.

"Regardless of what you think, Bubbly is not a danger to others, only those that threaten her trainer. She is rambunctious, yes, but she loves Eira. She would go to great lengths for that girl and if you'd watch them for more then two seconds at a time, you'd know that too."

Cameron only dared to look back at me, my eyes showed him the anger I'd held for him in my soul and my pokemon backed me up on that by growling at him. Cameron saw the danger in their eyes. How angry they were at him.

With a red mark right across his face, I was surprised to see the boy approaching me. He stopped only before my pokemon, who crossed their bodies before me to prevent him from getting closer to me.

He sighed. "I'm sorry Eira. I shouldn't have said things to you like that without understanding it entirely. I assumed that because I had worked with Bubby for so long and she was always such a ruffian that she would hurt others, when it's entirely the opposite. She's just trying to protect her trainer and the one she cares about." He looked down at the ground. "I don't expect you to forgive me after I've been such an ass, but at least… I understand now…"

"So should I hit you the next time you do something stupid to me or my pokemon?" Cameron raced to look up at me. My face had softened to a smile and my pokemon had calmed down at my sides. The two of were calmly looking up at him with curious, yet cautious eyes.

He snorted a laugh. "You too good of a person Eira, and yes, you have permission to hit me."

"Good." I reached forward and hit the back side of his head with my hand. He flinched and hissed out in pain, but he gave me a painful smile.

"Yeah… I deserved that…"

"You did." He chuckled nervously as I nodded. "But I can forgive you now that I've gotten even."

He laughed and rubbed where I'd hit him. "Damn girl… you hit hard…"

The heat rushed a bit to my face in embarrassment. "I may be shy… but that doesn't mean I'm weak…"

"I'll remember that." Cameron smiled and turned back to the professor. "Thanks for the hint professor, I think I'll start heading further from town to see what other kinds of pokemon I can find for you."

"Good to hear that Cameron." The professor nodded his head. "You should look into other areas besides the smaller routes here. Different kinds of pokemon live all over this region and even more so in the world. You won't find them all just hanging around here."

"I will, and I'll report all the information to you when I can."

"Good, good, I would expect no less from my best assistant."

"Hold it right there!"

The four of us whipped around our heads to see three figures running toward us from within the city. The three of them all seemed to be of the same style clothing, silver mostly, with it covering all their skin. White boots came up to their ankles, and their sleeves over their arms and legs were covered by thickly striped grey On their chests were these black sleeveless looking tops over the grey material with a vibrant yellow "G" on the front of it. They also had similar, funny looking hair styles of green color.

Cameron was quick to step before the professor and Parker and I followed his lead when the three of them stopped before us.

"Hand over you research on you of evolution and no one gets hurt professor!" the female shouted.

"This research is priceless! We just can't give it up!" Cameron spat at them. "Especially to the likes of you."

"Agreed, my research is not up for sale or the taken milady." Professor Rowan shook his head. "Leave before something happens to the likes of you. All three of these children are trainers and strong battlers."

"Whatever gramps, if you won't hand over you things, Team Galactic will make you!" one of the males snapped. He pulled out a pokeball and threw it out. "Go Zubat!"

"Wurmple!"

"Glameow!"

Out came three different weaker pokemon before us. I watched the three of them stand before their trainers and growl, ready to attack.

I nervously stepped back a bit. Why were criminals after the professor? And they were being so forceful… what was gained from this? The professor was going to share his research with everyone once it was finished, or even when it got to a certain point.

"The hell you are!" Parker snapped. "Keep them away from us guys!"

"Gro!"

"Kya!"

Parker's two pokemon soon came onto the scene and blocked the path to the professor and the rest of us. I watched as our attackers as they yelled out orders and the pokemon clashed. Parker kept them back with ease and he grinned at that.

"Come on! That the best you got?" He snorted a laugh. "Eira battles a thousand million times more then you do!"

 _Even if that wasn't really a number… Parker was right… these people were weaklings from what I could see. And if it wasn't for the fact that the professor needed protect from these people, Parker would be doing nothing more then playing with them._

The adrenaline started up again then. I could feel it running through my veins and rushing through my body, making me hot. The feeling was similar to when I was battling… but it was a bit different this time, it was angry, the blood was pounding harder and rushing to my cheeks. My pokemon felt the emotion of anger rolling right off of me and they shared the trait. My anger was their anger. They bared their teeth, feathers and fur stuck up on its ends and the grunts looked to us in fear as my eyes were wide and looking directly at them.

"Take them out." My simple order was quite, but it held more power then Parker's shouting ever could. My two pokemon snarled and hissed before leaping forward and over Parker's pokemon and thrashing about, throwing out wild attacks of water and electricity at the three opposing pokemon. My friends watched with surprised looks while the opposing trainers watched in horror as my pokemon tore right through theirs and threw them back at their feet.

I took a step forward and my pokemon easily walked toward our fearful attackers. They stepped back, dropped the pokeballs they were carrying and ran. I looked to the pokeballs they dropped on the ground and grabbed them. With the three of them in hand, I passed them over to the professor.

"Those poor pokemon should be healed and either set free or given some therapy after what they went through with those trainers." The professor easily nodded his head and took them. "You can do that, right?"

"Of course, I'll get this squared and see what the police think. If they are okay with it, I'd love to have some more pokemon around the lab, and this wurmple is a special type that can evolve in different ways to two different types of pokemon! I'd love to study and see which one it would evolve into."

"I'll take you back to the lab professor," Cameron turned back to his boss. "After being attacked like that, you shouldn't travel back to the lab alone."

"Oh nonsense Cameron, I have three pokemon on me now or I can get an escort." The professor shook his head and pointed to the cliff before us. "Go on and explore, I'll be fine. You three should move onto the next town and find more pokemon and get stronger."

"Well…" Cameron shook the back of his head.

"Hey, if he's okay with it, he should be fine." Parker shrugged. "But we should get going. I mean… we should head up north. I heard there's a cool fire and electric pokemon in the area and I might wanna grab one of those."

"I wanna go too… maybe I'll find more friends…" I smiled as I looked at the pokemon I already had on my team, but I wouldn't mind more that I could happily be with. More friends… more happy memories…

"So let's go already!" Before I knew it, Parker had me in his arms and he was already running toward the cliff entrance. I heard Cameron shouting at him to wait up, but I could barely hear him over the roaring footsteps of my pokemon and Parker's who kept pace with us. I couldn't help but laugh of the foolishness of it.

Parker carried me up the path and only when he got to the top of it did he set me down to catch his breath. Our pokemon came in beside us and I instantly felt Elecky and Bubbly at my sides. I looked out over the cliff to see where Professor Rowan was and saw that he was waving to me on the flower covered field. I waved back before turning to admire the area around me. The field was covered in wild flowers and let for a few many miles to the north, where the new town would be. I was more then happy to camp out here on the road if this was the view that I was going to see.

"Ain't it nice Eira?" I turned to my wheezing best friend beside me. "Let's see how much we can piss off Cam by keeping ahead of him!"

I could only laugh, and it was a full one that too, no soft giggles, no quiet smiles, a real laugh. I was so happy, I could easily enjoy moments like this from the rest of my life, and I wish I could.

But there's always something bad that happens, and I didn't want to fall too hard when it did.

 **Witch's Note:**

 **A short chapter, a** _ **really**_ **short chapter, but it was more of a filler then anything sadly. To get Eira and Cameron on the same page as well as facing the first set of grunts of an evil organization! Isn't it great? We'll have more fun next chapter. Oh, and by the way, Eira gets a new pokemon next chapter! Any idea what it is? I'll give out a small hint; it'll help her at the next gym!**

 **I tell you no more!**

 **Now my dear readers don't forget to Review and Send in Questions for me and the characters! We can't wait to see what you have to say! Love you all and see you next week!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_

 **Extra Note:**

 **I want to apologize for the late update today; I was unable to get to a computer due to grieving for my recently deceased father. Rest assured, the next weeks chapter will be on schedule, however this one was late due to myself being with family. I hope you understand and don't hold this against me**


	7. They Don't Learn, Do They?

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 7: They Don't Learn, Do They?_

 **Eira's Point of View (Dream):**

 _I was actually really surprised when I ended back in this strange world, but things were much more different this time, which was confusing to me. I had just laid down for bed once myself and my friends set up camp next to the road. But what was really shocking was I was having this dream after having such a good time… and what was worse was that I was actually only a few feet away from the pedestal where the shadow beast I always see is. It was vacant for once, which I wasn't sure whether to be worried or curious about._

 _Curiosity got the best of me though, I made my way toward the peninsula that was hanging there and watched as there was nothing more below it when I looked over the edge. The world swirled into nothingness down below, and it made me a bit nervous to take those final steps to the edge._

 _I was surprised when I heard its cry rang out among this world. The swirling colors of the sky confusing me to what was color or what was its shadow. It took a few moments for me to see the two in two different colors, but soon the shadows separated from the swirling colors and the shadow figure landed before me. I was surprised when the shadows dispersed around us and I actually saw them swirling around us. Because it was so dark around us, I could actually see the colors off of the body of my so called "friend" that I'd come to know in this shadowy world._

 _I was shocked to see its body; my friend had a serpent like body with spikes coming out of the sides of it. Out of its back showed off some wispy thin, black wings with red tips on them. Golden bones were extended out of its body as protective ribs around the sides of its body. Its body was silver in color with red and black stripes on its chest and back. Gold was on the end of its spikes coming out of the sides of its body while there was a golden mask over its face. Through the mask I could see those bright red eyes that I see on every visit that I come to._

" _Who are you?" I felt like I'd asked that question a million times, but each time I was getting a little closer to the creature, and it was getting closer to me. "I know I never introduced myself before… but I'm Eira."_

 _The creature gently cried out to me and bowed its head, its eyes right before mine, staring into my own hazel ones. I could see its irises past the glow, seeing the rich blood red color and the darker red or the very lines and shades of its eyes. I felt it… sending its thoughts to me through its mind, like a psychic or ghost pokemon would do…_

" _Giratina… a ghost dragon pokemon?" I blinked up at the creature before I was surprised to see that there was my pokedex in my pocket. I was surprised that I had my items here with me, but the rest of my items normally came with me that I had on my body, so it wasn't too much or a surprise. I slowly pulled it out and pointed it at the beast I'd seen since I was little._

 _ **Giratina, the renegade pokemon. It was banished for its violence. It silently gazed upon the old world from the Distortion World. This pokemon is said to live in a world on the reverse side of ours, where common knowledge is distorted and strange. This legendary pokemon is said to live in the Distorted World, but it is unknown how to enter such a world. Please wait… updating legendary information…**_

" _Banished for destruction? But you're not mean at all…" I was confused as I looked at my close friend. Sure, when we'd first met each other years ago, we didn't get along so well, but over the years, we'd grown on each other and I opened up while Giratina seemed to soften up…_

 _ **Maybe she was destructive in the other world…**_ _I dared to look up at her. She leaned down and gently nuzzled her head against mine. I took comfort in the affection and lifted my hands to brush against her plate like armor skin._

" _Shadow…" The creature looked up at me, its eyes boring into my soul. "Shadow… my friend…"_

 _I have no idea why I gave the pokemon a nickname that I always saw in my dreams. But now that I was so close… how could I not? I was surprised when the ghost dragon almost seemed to perk up at the name before continuing her affection toward me._

 _I was surprised though when the ghostly dragon pulled back and looked to another section of this world that she seemed to govern. I looked to where her eyes met and saw a path starting to form from her platform. It seemed to lead to another section of this world where I could barely see a glimmer of a light._

" _Is that where we're going?" Shadow nodded her head to me and it was then that I felt myself being pulled from that world. Shadow cried out and tried to hug me tight as if that would prevent me from going._

" _Don't worry Shadow, I'll be back. You know I will." Shadow pulled away sadly, but nodded to me. I felt myself become surrounded by blackness as Shadow cried out a final time when I must have disappeared from her sight._

 **Eira's Point of View (Awake):**

I wasn't surprised when I was woken from my dream like state by the excited hand of Parker. He was grinning over my shoulder as I slowly sat up and looked over to him and Cameron, who were eating by the makeshift fire place we had last night. The fire was out, the embers dead and soaked with water. My pokemon as well as Cameron's and Parker's were playing off to the side with my two being the rougher of the two.

"Morning Eira!" Parker grinned up at me while he decided to pull back his arm from where he was shaking me. "Sleep good?"

"Yes… I was actually having a really good dream before you woke me up…"

He rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that Eira, but I figured you'd want breakfast and to get moving since it's already ten in the morning. You were out like a light!"

 _Really? Was it already that time?_ I quickly reached over for my poke'tch and saw that Parker was not lying to me. It was late in the morning, which meant that we needed to get a move on.

"Of course." I was quick to get to my feet and take care of most of my things before I joined Cameron a few feet away. He handed me a bowl of breakfast, which consisted of berries that I assumed Cameron to have gathered for us.

"I'm happy to see you got some good sleep Eira. Once you've eaten, we'll head out and finish our journey to Floroma Town, sound okay?"

"That sounds wonderful, thank you." I took the food and slowly started to eat. "Did you find these Cameron?"

"Only a couple, some I actually brought with me in order for us to at least have some food on our journey, in case we didn't find any." Cameron glared over at my water type. "But Bubbly ate most of what we found…"

"It's not her fault; I believe she has a high metabolism." My pokemon were quick to rush over to my side and I felt Elecky rub herself against my side and Bubbly beg for one of my berries. I handed her one. "If that may be the case, which I think so since she's hardly put on a pound from all the food she eats, then she can't help it, food goes through her body faster then it does ours, and she has to build it up or else she won't survive the day."

"I guess… if she's okay with it, I'll see if Professor Rowan has the same beliefs as that so we know for the future."

"Alright." I nodded my head to him before our conversation died and I went back to just eating my berries. Once I was done, I handed the dish back to Cameron and pulled my bag onto myself.

When the boys saw me ready, it was time for us to continue on in our journey. We were only a few miles out of Floroma Town when we decided to stop for the night before, so it wouldn't be much further then a couple hours in total before we got there. In the mean time, my two pokemon hovered closer to me while rolling in the dirt and playing with one another and fooling around. It made me incredibly happy to see the two of them enjoying each other like that.

As we slowly got closer to the town, I saw even more wild flowers coming into bloom and some that were planted by the people of the town. As it was named, Floroma Town was known for its heavily colors and flowers that were planted all over the area, and even on the outskirts. Many florists have their stores there and contests and flower festivals were held there often as people took in the delicate scenery. Seeing some richly blue hydrangea bushes surrounded by tulip and dahlia bulbs. Being in the fall season, those plants would soon be either dug up to protect for the winter, or hibernate, but being in the warmer part of the region helped with keeping some of these plants open longer. Chrysanthemums were some of the biggest blooming flowers that seemed to scatter all over the paths with some leaves starting to fall off of the more sensitive trees, such as the sumacs. They were turning a vibrant red in color and soon the town would be having its last flower seasons before turning in for the winter.

The flowers were beyond addictive to look out while they were still out and about, but I couldn't wait to come back in the spring to see the cherry's blossoms or the lilacs.

It was only a short while later when I noticed that some buildings came into view. My eyes lit up when I saw the prospect of a town. I just saw the edges of it before smaller buildings came into view. I was so happy to see the ivy that coated most of the houses and hundreds of types of plants, shrubs, trees, and flowers all over the location. I could hear and feel the excitement of my own pokemon as well before I saw that the two of them rushed forward to the entrance to the town. It seemed like there was a parade of sorts going on from the banners hung and seeds flying through the air, being thrown by the residents in hopes of new flowers for the next year's crop.

"Oh this is so cool!" Parker was quick to rush past myself and my pokemon to where he could get a better look at the parade. "We should go watch! Come on you guys!"

Before Cameron or I could get in a word or anything else, Parker took off into the crowd as we saw floats and the sort moving about in between the people. I shrugged when Cameron was next to me and he sighed before taking off into the crowd of people as well. I was left behind with my two pokemon. It was a smaller town, so the parade didn't bother me as much as the city traffic and normal day life for them did to me. I was about to jump into the crowd when something caught my eye. I turned my head to follow it and I was shocked to see a couple members of that horrid gang named Team Galactic. One of the members caught my eye and took off in the crowd, but I wasn't about to let them get away.

The emotions flowing off of me startled my two pokemon, but quickly the two of them seemed to catch on and follow after me, knowing that something was out of place. I just barely had the member in my sights as I watched them push out of the crowd and the parade all together and headed toward a small section of woods that seemed to be toward the back of the town itself.

I followed after the character through some of the trees and the changing leaves that led me to a shack or sorts that put me out of sight of my friends. I was surprised when I saw a small group of the fiends bothering an older man and trying to take something in a jar from him. Many other jars seemed to have been collected already, but he was holding onto a few.

"Give me back my honey! You thieves don't deserve it!" He snarled at them. "All you want it for is to collect as many pokemon as you can for you evil uses!"

"Can it old man." A male member of this so called group said. "We'll do as we please. Our boss wants as many pokemon as we can catch in the next few hours, and this honey will be an easy way to capture as many as we need."

I watched hesitantly for a few moments. Parker and Cameron weren't with me this time, but it was my two pokemon instead by my side. It would take no time at all to take them out if they were as weak as the ones from the day before…

"Mag!" I was surprised when I saw fire coming out of a pokemon's mouth and hit the team members that were stealing the honey and putting it on cars that led onto a van of sorts. I was amazed at the power from the one steady beam of fire that came out of that pokemon's mouth. It was pink in color, but it seemed more masculine in personality rather then feminine. It seemed to have fluffy looking hair or fur on the top its head that resembled a smoke stack that was trying to escape but couldn't, also pink in color, like the rest of its body. It had a small black collar around its neck and it had a body that reminded me a bit of a pink charmander in shape, but pink and with no flame on the tail. It had tiny claws and its eyes were small and black in color.

I pulled out my pokedex to look up its information. _Magby, the live coal pokemon. Its magma-like blood circulates throughout its body. Its body's heat can top one-thousand and one-hundred degrees. Each and every time it inhales and exhales, hot embers dribble from its mouth and nostrils. Magby nests are rare and tend to be near Fuego Ironworks._

"Careful Magby! You might light the forest on fire!" The man called and I saw the pokemon flinch as he couldn't hurt the bad guys as hard as he wished.

"Poor pokemon… always has to be careful of what's around it, but that works out for us." The grunt sighed. "Now let's get back to work people!"

"No…" Bubbly and Elecky looked back to me, awaiting an order. "Bubblebeam and tackle; take them down and don't hold back."

I never needed to shout my orders. The demand in my soft voice was getting stronger and my pokemon obeyed without hesitation. Bubbly leapt forward and lashed out with her attack. Being a water type, she couldn't hurt the trees and forest as much as the fire type could. The pokemon and grunts were pushed back and saturated before Elecky jumped through the attack and slammed her body right into theirs.

The annoying grunt that was the leader of their operation was unimpressed with us and pushed himself to stand before marching over to me. Bubbly and Elecky dove in front him before he could event take a step within ten feet of me.

"You dare to mock and get in the way of the plans of Team Galactic? You foolish girl, you should have minded your own business." He pulled out another pokeball and tossed it before us. "Go Purugly!"

I was surprised when I saw a pokemon exactly the same as my mother's best friend be sent out before us. It snarled and growled at us, but my pokemon never wavered and acted similarly back to the opponent. I hesitated for only a moment before I narrowed my eyes and the two parties sprung without an order.

"Mag!" My eyes widened and my focus cut when I saw the stray magby jump into the fight and slam his body into the purugly's. The pokemon yowled before it landed in a heap, slowly trying to get to its feet while the magby landed before me. He grinned when he looked back at me and I could see the gleam in his eyes. He wanted to fight with me.

"Alright… Magma, use smokescreen!" The nickname flew right off my tongue as I ordered the pokemon to attack in place of my other two. I knew he wouldn't want something girly like what I had been giving my other two pokemon, of which were both female. Magma seemed like an appropriate tough name that he could handle.

And boy did Magma deliver.

Magma grinned and a smokescreen covered the field in an instant, nearly exploding from his mouth. My other two pokemon cheered as he rushed into the haze and vanished from sight.

"Confuse ray." My voice felt like it was becoming stronger, and I was happy for that and my pokemon. I could see the shadows in the smoke that seemed to swirl and disorient from view. "Now head butt!"

I heard a slamming sound come out of the smoke and the purugly was thrown from it. Only then did the smoke clear and is saw that Magma was untouched and grinning.

"Mag!" he cried out.

"Go Magma!" I felt excitement for this new possible member of my team that battled with us. My other pokemon cried out too as well for him as hew battled.

"Damn you… you'll rue the day you crossed Team Galactic!" A smoke bomb was thrown and the location covered in smoke again. When it cleared, only a few moments later, then man was gone, but not the honey jars that he and others had been trying to steal.

"Oh thank you so much!" The older man smiled and started to grab the trays of honey jars and bring them back to his small building. "You have no idea how much you helped me, and you also have no idea how happy I am to see Magby with a trainer who would make him stronger and love him."

"So long as he wants to be apart of my team, Magma is welcomed." I bent down to be level with him and I saw the fire type puff out his chest before reaching his head forward to touch a pokeball in my hand. I'd restocked when I had the chance and grabbed a couple different ones. The one I had in my hand was green and black, and dusk ball, and normally worked better in darker locations, but I figured the design would be something that this masculine pokemon wouldn't mind the looks of for his own personal pokeball.

In a few seconds, the pokeball waved back and forth before Magma was captured. I smiled when he was and released him back out and allowed him to relax and chat it up with my other two pokemon and his new teammates and friends.

"Well, for that feature, I should give you some of my honey for all of your help."

My eyes widened. "Are you sure? I don't want to take what you just got back…"

"Oh nonsense, I wouldn't even _have_ any of this back if it wasn't for you, my dear." He turned around and I was surprised to see him hand over half a dozen bottles of honey to me. "This should do nicely. There's more then enough for a whole jar for each of your pokemon and a couple to spare."

"More like one…" I softly muttered as I thought that Bubbly would probably get two anyway due to her hungry nature. She drooled as she looked at the jars in my hands. I smiled at her and handed her one right off the back since she was hungry. She dived right into the sweet treat.

"So I see…" The man chuckled before a thought crossed his mind and his expression changed.

I blinked at him worriedly. "What is it…?"

"I'm not the only place that was attacked. You need to get out of here and go to the Valley Windworks. That blasted criminal group is over there as well, stealing as much power as they can. Here." He handed me a key. "This will get you inside the building. My friend is the owner of the building and his daughter came running by earlier with this when she was kicked out. Please go help him! Magma can show you the way."

"Mag!" Magma nodded behind me and I nodded to him

"We will." I held the key tightly in my hand before I turned and watched Magma. "Lead the way."

"Mag!" Magma took off then and my pokemon sprinted behind him and I behind them at the end.

Even with all the seriousness of this whole event, I was happy to see that Bubbly was eating her honey while we ran and kept pace easily enough. It made me laugh silently before thinking back to the original event going on.

We exited the forest and soon came back to the two while the parade was still going on. I couldn't see my two friends, but I'm sure they got lost in the crowd. They were enjoying the parade and that was fine. I could easily take these guys on my own with _three_ powerful pokemon on my team.

It was as I passed through the town that I finally saw the effects of their meddling. The power in town suddenly shut off and it took most people by surprise when the lights turned off. I could see that the floats still ran, but it still caused a bit of confusion with the power off.

Floroma soon left my view and I left into the grassy, wild flower filled area to the west. I quickly saw a small factory come into view that Magma was leading me toward and I wasn't surprised to see a whole lot of members that stood guard outside of the building to keep others out. Just seeing them made my blood boil worse then any battle I'd ever been apart of.

"Magma, we're not surrounded by the woods anymore, so you can go all out." My simple statement was all the newest member of my team needed in order to get him moving faster before he leapt into the air and fire blasted from his mouth in a second. I heard screaming, but didn't stop as I pushed through the smoke and watched though hazy vision as Bubbly and Elecky were holding them off or knocking them out of the way.

"Hold it you little brat!" I suddenly felt something grab my arm and I instantly froze up under then grip. I dared to look back at the male grunt that had grabbed me and it only took moments for my pokemon to know that I'd been grabbed. I watched as Magma jumped over the lot of them and socked the grunt that had a hold of me. It took no more then moments for him to release me and let go before Magma punched him in the stomach and he keeled over. I sighed and smiled at my pokemon.

"Thank you Magma. Now go and take the rest of them out with Bubbly and Elecky." He nodded to me before taking off and rushing toward the building that he and my other two pokemon were nearly at. With the last few of the grunts taken out of the way, I saw a single one that in turn slammed the door to the power plant and locked it, thinking that we couldn't get in.

I blinked, along with my pokemon in confusion before they smiled and urged me toward the door. I did have the key after all. I unlocked the door and quickly pushed it open to see the same terrified grunt looking at us.

"No!" He screamed and rushed further back into the base while my pokemon raced after him. I was by myself as I watched my pokemon rushed off nearly one hundred feet ahead and turned a corner while I was left in the dust and safety of the entrance. The grunt was still running from them and I could hear his screaming.

I slowly began to walk through the building as it was pulsing with power. Being careful not to be caught alone in this place (even if my pokemon would be back to me in an instant if something happened) I watched out for more grunts that could be littering in the place.

Walking the hallways, I noticed that many of the grunts were leaned against the walls or knocked out flat on the ground. My pokemon had gotten to them and took them out in a mad rush before most likely rushing off to go find more. This was heaven on Earth for them with people and pokemon they could beat up terribly well. I giggled when I saw one of them trying to reach for me with what little strength that he had left before he collapsed and was out of it.

I followed the path of beaten bodies until I came up to a final room. A man in a lab coat seemed to be watching my pokemon in awe and excitement while another woman in Team Galactic uniform glared down at my pokemon. She seemed to be the higher up of this operation. She looked a bit more girly in uniform then the other females with a white skirt like dress that went over the armor looking fabric on her arms and legs. White boots came up past her knees and bright red hair was on her head that was short, curling around her ears with a spike on top of her head pointing outward toward me. Her eyes seemed to nearly match her hair in color as she glared and my growling pokemon.

"How dare you ruin our operation?" The woman glared as me as I stood before my anxiously waiting pokemon. "So you're the one that's been meddling… I was wondering why we've had people other then the IPHP League interfering with our plans…" She huffed and pushed back a stray piece of hair. "Very well, if you're so curious about our operation or us in general, you have your wish! I am one of the four commanders of Team Galactic, Mars is my name. You don't need to know anything else about me other then I plan to crush you and your damn pokemon for running our plans." She tossed out a pokeball. "Go Purugly!"

A deep yowl came out of the pokemon that emerged, once again did I have to face a pokemon that looked the same as my mother's from home. It meant little to me now since they had so many pokemon that looked like my mother's, but I knew were nothing like Honey.

"Magma," my pokemon looked over at me. "This is your battle, go ahead."

He nodded to me and jumped out ahead of the others. He puffed fire from his mouth and it only made the woman laugh.

"What, is that supposed to intimidate me?"

"No… my first and last attack is." I blinked at her calmly before letting my hand gently flow before me and point at the purugly. "Take it out with lava plume." My pokemon grinned before I saw him suck in a deep breath before blasting a breath of pure lava out at the opposing pokemon. It screeching out as its body was burned and Mars look on with horror at the situation before her. In a single attack (which is what I figured would happen from how strong my pokemon were) we were able to beat this woman.

"No… you didn't even allow me a chance to attack!" She cried out angrily as the lava burned through the floor and rapidly was cooling as he pokemon was thrown to the side and its body starting to literally melt from the attack.

"Bubbly, don't let it die." My water pokemon nodded and blasted the opposing pokemon with water to harden and cool the lava. It would be a while before that pokemon could attack again. I glared at the woman. "And you… you didn't allow these people a choice when it came to taking over this building…"

"Ha! You, the high and mighty Mars, was beaten by a child." I turned my head and watched as another man appeared. An older one from the looks of it with paling purple hair on his head that was starting to bald. Red glasses in small circle shapes were before his eyes and a short, chubby body in a Galactic uniform under a white lab coat. "But regardless of your failure, we have more then enough power that we need. I believe its time we left then Mars. After all, the child beat you so easily, if we do not retreat, what would happen?"

"Be quite you old man!" Mars hissed back at the man behind him. "You only just recently joined our ranks and that gives you no authority over me! I only accept orders from our leader! He is the only one who can boss me around!" She huffed. "But fine, we'll leave." She glared over at me. "This won't be the last time you have to deal with me you brat!"

A cloud of smoke suddenly appeared and the lights flashed off. A breaking of glass sound echoed in the room before lights suddenly turned on and neither of the two of them were still here. I turned around and even the grunts that were helping out with the operation were gone in no time at all.

They might have gotten away, but regardless, I could see that we had won here. I leaned down before my team and hugged each one of them. "Good job you guys…"

"Miss Eira!" I blinked and lifted my head as Looker suddenly rushed into the room. "My Acreus… are you alight?"

I slowly nodded to him with my team of three that were crowded around me and cheering. It took Looker no more then a few minutes to gather then information from our spirits about what happened here.

"Did you… did you take on Team Galactic and beat them?"

I nodded to him. "A lot of grunts… and a commander…"

"Incredible… I was right about you…" I blinked at the man while he held a finger to his chin. Once he saw me looking at him strangely, he nervously chuckled and put a hand on my shoulder. "Still, I'm just happy to see you're alright."

I nodded to him and showed him a soft smile to show I was in good spirits as well. He seemed to take a liking to that and patted my shoulder before getting back up off the ground.

"Well, you should get back to your friends in town, I'm sure they're worried sick about you. And get plenty of rest! You'll be going through the Eterna Forest tomorrow and you'll need ever ounce of energy just to keep from getting lost."

I nodded to him. "…I'll keep that in mind."

Looker smiled and patted my shoulder one more time before I left the building. Once I was outside, I saw a little girl and the poor man in the lab coat reunited. _It must have been the friend of the honey man's…_

I watched the two of them for only a few more seconds before I took off to another area and headed back to town. The parade seemed to be over now and Parker and Cameron seemed to be wildly looking all around the location for me. Suddenly Parker turned his head and his eyes met with mine as I smiled at him before he shouted and came racing over with Cameron right on his heels.

"Eira!" Parker grabbed me into a hug when he got closer to me. He pulled back only for a moment to let me see his terrified features and for him to look at my calm one. "Are you alright?"

I nodded to him. "I'm fine… while you guys were enjoying the parade… I saw some Team Galactic grunts…"

"And I'm more then willing to bet you followed after them?" Cameron asked when he caught up to us and gasped for breath. "Man… how in hell do you keep up with him Eira?"

I giggled a bit at him. "I found them in the woods attacking a man and stealing all his honey… I met Magma there and we beat them up." I looked down to Magma and rubbed my hand against his cheek. He blushed and rubbed the back of his head while laughing. "Then I fought them again at the Valley Windworks… they were stealing power from there… that's why the power went out…"

"Damn it! I should have known!" Parker hissed before shaking his head. "I'm sorry Eira… if we'd known we would have been right there with you…"

I shook my head. "…Don't worry about… My team kept me safe and the commander we face was really weak…"

Both boys raised an eye brow. "Weak? Like how weak?"

"Magma used one attack…"

"Yikes… just from your one pokemon?" Parker turned to look at Magma who stood by my side. "Glad to have you on our side and with her bud. Keep her safe okay?"

Magma nodded and I blushed from the conversation.

"But the parade and events are over now, why not get some food to eat and plan how we will work with Eterna Forest tomorrow?" Cameron asked. "That will be our next task to find a way around once we enter. It's an endless maze from what the professor and I have experienced in the past."

"Damn… yeah, we better work on that then." Parker sighed before he turned back to me. "So let's get going then Eira! We got lots of work to do!" Parker patted Bubbly's head. "And let's start that off by feeding your pokemon. I'm surprised Bubbly hasn't been complaining yet from hunger."

At that very moment when Parker mentioned food, Bubbly turned to me with her beady eyes and water nearly pouring from them. I smiled at her and nodded. She cheered and danced around in circles while I shook my head with my other two pokemon.

"Let's go get some food and rest then." When I looked up, I nearly saw it was sunset. It didn't feel like much longer ago it was the beginning of the day. _Where did all the time go?_

"Alright! Food time!"

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Alright! Well there's another chapter! It seems Eira's getting more comfortable with the world around her, but is there something that can knock her back? Its highly possible, but we'll see what happens! I don't want to ruin anything for anyone! So no telling!**

 **Anyway, what did you guys think of the new chapter? What do you think is going on with Eira seeing Giratina (Shadow as she now has been named apparently) and how exactly are they connected? Why are they connected? How are all these pokemon drawn to shy little Eira? I plan on answering those questions more later on in the story! But for now? I got another chapter to write!**

 **So I'll see you guys next time! Have fun! Don't forget to Review and Send in Questions! Love you all and see you next week!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	8. Eterna Forest

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 8: Eterna Forest_

 **Eira's Point of View:**

I was surprised when I didn't actually have a dream where I was in the world with Shadow but had an empty dream of nothingness. Something must have been going on with Shadow for me not to have been able to see her at all. I sat up in the bed I was in and saw that all of my pokemon were cuddled in around me. Bubbly was producing drool and bubbles from her mouth that floated into the air. Elecky was quietly breathing on my side, but something tickled her nose and electricity flew and hit the lamp, suddenly turning it on before she went back to sleep. Magma was curled into my legs and used the meaty part of them as a pillow while fire gently blew out of his mouth away from my skin.

I smiled at the three of them before I slowly moved my body as best I could so I wouldn't wake them. My three pokemon moved at my absence of warmth as I moved out of the bed and had them snuggle more in together. Once I was free, I hurried to the bathroom and threw my clothes in the washing machine they had here and hopped into the shower. The hot water felt good on my skin as I washed away the previous day's adventures and prepared for the next. I took care of all my necessities and climbed out of the shower before I grabbed my clothes from the machine. It was a wonderful little set up that went into the bathrooms and clothes were cleaned faster because of it.

Once I was dressed, I stepped out into the room I was sharing with my two friends. They had decided to take the bunk beds while I had the single to myself with my pokemon. His starly was laying on top of Parker's chest while Grotle was resting at his side on the post. Cameron's pokemon, his chimchar, was curled into his side. I had no idea if he had any other pokemon with him as of the moment, but it didn't seem like it.

My poklemon were waking up when I got back to my bed. They looked up at me happily before I grabbed my bag and put their balls on my belt.

"Shall we go and get some breakfast?" They all grinned at me before flocking to the door. Magma was able to open it and they were gone. From the ruckus of my pokemon, I saw Cameron lift his head from the bed on the bottom. He blinked his eyes at me before I waved to him. "We're getting food; meet you and Parker down there."

He nodded before drifting back to sleep for a few more minutes while I dealt with my pokemon. I loved all of them, and I'd hardly known them for more than a week or two…

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It was a few hours later when the boys finally got up and joined us downstairs as we prepared to get ready for our trip into the Eterna Forest. We knew it was going to be a long walk, the entire place was a maze and it was impossible to get through it in a single day. We had to make sure we had plenty of supplies in case we were stuck out there for longer than a few days. Parker offered to carry most of it since he had the most energy, and Grotle threw in himself as well from how strong he was.

"Okay, so let's map out our plan here." Cameron pulled out a map from his bag and showed us the entire length of the forest. "The Eterna Forest is a huge location. It's going to take us more than a few days to get through this location. We're packed for at least four, maybe five days if it comes to that, and we'll try to hold off on most of our food since the forest in filled heavily with berries and what not that we can eat all day."

"And we're heading down this path, right?" I gently pointed to the path that Cameron had marked out in a red marker. It was hard to see the path well, but Cameron seemed confident enough that he could lead us through in a few days.

"Yeah, we'll start here, and the entrance," he pointed to the beginning of the forest, right near where we were. "And here is the exit. I believe I picked a high road that should take us right through to the end."

"I hope so for your sake…" Parker snorted a laugh. "If we don't get back to town enough and Bubbly gets hungry, I'm moving out of the way for her to eat you first."

"We'll be fine Parker, right Eira?" Cameron looked to me in hopes that I would agree with him, while Parker pouted and looked at me with the same look in his eyes, for me to side with him.

This is one of the moments I didn't care for between my friends. Don't get me wrong, it's good to have a fight here and there, it's refreshing as well as something the soul needs at times to let out some frustrations. However, some of the arguments that Cameron and Parker have between each other leave me as the odd one out to make some sort of strange deciding vote for something that's irrelevant to what's going on. Bubbly would never eat them, not even if they had left me for dead. Of course she would be pissed however…

"Neutral." I turned away from the two of them and began to walk away. My pokemon followed right after me while Cameron's jaw dropped and Parker just shrugged before keeping up with me.

"Nice Eira!" Parker held up his hand for me to hit and I smiled and did so, but in a soft manner. Parker sighed, but accepted it before entwining his fingers in mine. "We gotta work on your high fives Eira…"

I only giggled at him before he released my hand and Cameron finally decided to catch up to us. We traveled together toward the entrance of the forest before heading inside with all of our pokemon. The forest was very lush and green, dense as well. It made me finally understand why this location was cut off to most of the public and most of the edges of the forest were closed off.

"While we're in here though you guys, I do want to stop at a couple locations, granted that we can find them inside this forest." Cameron spoke up as we just started on the trail.

"And why is that?" Parker turned his head, arms wrapped around the back of it, as he questioned our new friend.

"Because I want to find some honey trees. This would be the easier of the two to find and they attract so many rare pokemon! It's amazing! It's mostly bug pokemon, but I've heard that they attract aipoms and munchlaxs too!"

"Whoa, really? A munchlax?" Parker's eyes suddenly went wide and he turned to look at Cameron with full attention. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Cameron grinned, knowing that he had Parker's full attention now. "The one that can evolve into a huge, powerful, eats everything snorlax."

"Cool!" Parker's eyes were shinning and he was more than happy to find this supposed honey tree now.

"But what's the other location you wish to visit Cameron?" Both of the boy's gazes returned to me and Cameron nodded.

"I have a special pokemon with me that can only evolve near a certain location here in this region, it's called a moss rock, and supposedly it can evolve an eevee into leafeon."

"Wow…" Parker's eyes were glued to Cameron as he was talking about it.

"There's also a similar rock like that in the north, a frozen rock, that can evolve an eevee into glaceon. I've also read about certain pokemon only evolving inside the large mountainous landscape in the middle of our region, Mt. Cornet."

"How many more pokemon do you know evolutions for?" Parker's eyes were still wide as he was taking in the information, and it was interesting, but I knew we'd never find it if we just hung around the entrance.

"Well there's quite a few more…" Cameron began to tell more of the evolutions that he had discovered at the side of Professor Rowan and how he'd been helping him with his evolution research. While they did so, I sighed and decided to move on. I didn't want to remain in just one spot for the remainder of our stay here in the forest, I wanted to keep moving.

While the boys talked endlessly a good ways behind me, I was surprised to see a girl standing a short distance up ahead of me. Her smooth completion was what caught my attention as well as its paleness in color. Otherwise I would have mistaken her for a bush or tree from the rich green color of her clothing and hair. A dark green dress covered her entire body and cascaded all the way down to her ankles, which I saw were covered by thick black boots. I imagined her dress was either strapless or very thin strapped with no sleeves, because she had a bright green, short, jacket cover her shoulders and the upper half of her chest along with both her arms and even parts of her hands. I looked at her incredibly long hair was that was braided and was swung around from the back of her head to flow smoothly before her chest. Shorter bits of hair framed around her face and a few strands seemed to get into her light grey colored eyes.

The woman's eyes suddenly connected with mine and once they were locked she rushed to me, fear radiating off her. She took my hand in hers before she nervously smiled. "I'm sorry to come onto you like this… but is there any way we could partner up and move through this forest together?"

I blinked at her silently while my pokemon looked up at her in confusion.

She pulled back a bit and curtsied for us. "I'm sorry, let me start at the beginning…" She lifted her head and smiled at me, showing off her sweet personality. "My name is Cheryl Green and I'd like to travel through this forest… but I'm nervous to go too far from the entrance with the increased activity of Team Galactic… would it be possibly to travel with you and your pokemon?"

My expression softened. Of course she was nervous, I was too when I faced them for the first time. A rough bunch like that who steal pokemon for their own gain would make anyone afraid, especially since we haven't had much noticeable trouble in hundreds of years.

"Of course…" I held out my hand for her to shake. "I'm Eira Helaine…"

"Oh thank you so much!" She took my single hand in her two and crossed her fingers over them, just like a accepting the agreement. "I feel so relieved… oh! And if you pokemon need it, I can tend to any of their injuries. I trained with a few Nurse Joys before and I have a chansey as my partner."

"I would love that, thank you." Cheryl released my hand and I began to walk off with her trailing right behind me. "Oh, and before I forget, I have two companions in this area as well. My best friend Parker and our new friend Cameron. I left them behind when they were too focused on talking about the types of pokemon they could catch here. It sounded cool of course, but my pokemon and I wanted to keep moving, not stop at every intersection."

"I see." Cheryl smiled at me. "I'm sure the two of them will catch up. In the mean time, traveling through this place will take a while, not to mention, I bet there's lots of trainers in here to battle against, most of them bug type trainers due to how many are here. I'm sure you'll have fun with those."

I smiled back at her. "You're really nice Cheryl, I think this journey with each other will be amazing."

She giggled lightly. "I believe so too Eira."

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

After I'd ditched Parker and Cameron and met up with Cheryl, we traveled for a few days worth of time in the forest. As Cheryl had predicted, there were many bug type trainers, and a few others inside of this forest as well. Since Magma was my newest pokemon and my next gym battle was one with us against grass types, it made him the prime choice to get stronger to make us prepared against them. He battled most all trainers that we laid our eyes on, and Elecky and Bubbly got some trainers in too when Magma had gotten tired and needed a break, lying in my arms and napping.

It'd been like this for the last few days before Cheryl and I found anything remotely interesting. We ended up finding a beautiful little spring somewhere in the heart of the forest. We saw pokemon drinking from this body of water that was nearly a mile wide in diameter. As we walked toward it, little pokemon didn't seem bothered by us as we approached the body of water. I filled up our bottles since it would probably be a while before we'd get more. Since Parker had the majority of the food with me, my team and Cheryl's tended to strive off the berries we found. We found some more of them at the spring which we picked for some of the pokemon that couldn't reach and shared some with them.

"According to my map, this spring is near the very center of the forest, so it shows we've at least been partly going in the right direction these last three days." Cheryl spoke to me as I was picking more of the taller berries to hand out to the baby pokemon jumping at my feet. "At the rate were going, we should make to the end in another two or three."

"I'm amazed at the pace we've kept and still only made it this far." I snorted a laugh softly. "I believe Cameron's estimations were off when he planned to get us through this maze."

"I believe that to be so too." Cheryl pointed on her map. "If we're following the line you believed to have been your route, we should have crossed paths with them at least once by now. I believe that they are off their chosen path, most likely after those locations that you were speaking of Eira."

"It wouldn't surprise me." I handed down the berries to the pokemon and they grabbed them and started to eat in a mad rush while I picked a few more that I was the only one who could really reach. "Cameron looked so excited to gather as many pokemon as he could. I wouldn't be surprised if he had another ten pokemon once we met up later."

Cheryl giggled. "Oh that would be something wouldn't it?"

I giggled with her and handed down some more berries to the few pokemon left at my feet before plopping one into my mouth. It was sweet in flavor, a mago berry. While I did prefer some of the more hot ones such as the tamato berry, I would eat nearly anything that came in my direction; I just didn't need all that much in my stomach to keep me going.

A pained cry caught me off guard and I dropped the rest of the berries in my hands. The pokemon around me, also hearing the cry, didn't even bother to pick up what I'd dropped before running off into the forest. I looked back at Cheryl in worry and was quick to pick up her supplies before we rushed off after the cries that just got worse.

I pushed through a set of bushes and I felt my blood freeze when I saw what was before me. A small little pokemon of pale brown color and pink fluffy fur was covered in its own blood as two male humans hovered over it and hitting it with a larger stick. One held down the pokemon while the other beat it. I could see its arm twisted in the wrong direction then it should be and the males didn't stop.

"You worthless pokemon! You're a shiny but you can hardly handle any sort of battle in this weak forest!" one of the males snarled at the pokemon as it continued to cry out in pain.

"I can't believe a pokemon like you even exists, shinies are supposed to be powerful! But you're weak!" Another blow to its ribs and I heard a sickening crack echo in the woods and my eyes widened before I felt the fire pump with such hatred that never was inside of me before.

"Get them." I could barely get the words out through my snarls, but my pokemon heard the order and lunged. Elecky made it there first and sunk her teeth into the beater's arm, tearing his skin and drawing blood before pulling him away from the pokemon. The other man looked in fright before daring to turn his head and see my other two pokemon coming at him. He was punched and thrown around by my fire and water type pokemon. He spat out blood when one punch suckered him perfectly in the ribs.

Cheryl and I both rushed over to the small pokemon when the danger was out of the way. I could see its deformed body and broken bones… its arm… the bone was sticking out of the skin…

I looked up at Cheryl. "Please, do what you can." The woman nodded and took the small pokemon into her arms, pulling it into her lap and grabbing out her medical supplies before her chansey appeared and the two worked together on healing the pokemon.

While Cheryl did that I stood from my place and walked over to the bodies of the two men, they both cried out in pain from the brutal attacks my pokemon inflicted on them. I glared down at them, not a single worry passed through my mind as my pokemon mindlessly beat them. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life.

That's what would be coming at them if this pokemon didn't make it.

"Eira!" I dared to turn my head to look back at Cheryl. The pokemon was nearly covered in white bandages while the woman looked to the two men in fear. "You'll kill those two men if you don't stop them! Please! Another life shouldn't die! Even if what they did was wrong!"

"….Enough." My command was all it took to stop them. My pokemon let them go. I glared at them before walking back to Cheryl. "I'm sorry for scaring you… I just…"

"It's okay Eira, here, why don't you hold her?" Cheryl handed me the small pokemon that she had managed to wrap in a blanket when I wasn't looking. I kept her head supported and held the small pokemon close before Cheryl packed her things away. "I won't heal their wounds."

"Good, they don't deserve your kindness." With the pokemon settled in my arms, we took off, leaving the bloodied bodies of the two men behind.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It had been a few hours since the encounter and Cheryl and I thought it would be best to rest the night at the spring we had found, only a short distance away from the bodies of the two men. I didn't let go of the pokemon in my arms other then when Cheryl needed to check her bandages or change them. The entire time the pokemon had been sleeping comfortable in my arms, but not once did she open her eyes. And that made me fearful for her life.

"It's alright Eira, she'll wake up soon. Then we'll get her some healing berries and get moving tomorrow." Cheryl could feel the worries and tension rolling right off my body and was trying desperately to ease them. I hadn't eaten a thing since we found her many hours ago. It was night time, we had to make a fire to keep her warm and I kept her closer to it, much as some of it scorched my skin. The bare flames flicked at me in earnest to burn my arms that held the pokemon close as she rested. I noted that her breathing had evened out, but I was still petrified for the after effects of whatever might be going on in her mind after she was abused like that.

My pokemon took it then upon themselves to patrol the area around us as the day pressed on and most assuredly keep an eye out for the two males on the other side of the brush. We had no idea when they would wake up, but we didn't plant to let them get close enough to find out. Elecky was pacing right now, my other two pokemon were sleeping while they waited their turns to take watch. Cheryl and I, along with her partner chansey, were looking after the pokemon, nearly waiting on her hand and foot. Even though she hadn't woke up yet…

"Will you report those men once we get to the next town?" Cheryl questioned me, brining me back out of my gaze. I blinked at her, looked down at the pokemon in my arms, and then looked to the area where the men still were.

"Of course, no matter what. I just hope they can be arrested for it." I sighed. "They deserve a lot more then what my pokemon gave them…"

"I'm surprised to see this side of you Eira, I expected you to want to protect that pokemon, but never get so angry…"

"…I didn't either…"

And I wasn't lying to either of us there. When I thought back to the event, I was out of control… but the scene sent me over the edge… reminding me of the past… Something I couldn't let go of that brought out this darker side of me. And it terrified me…

"Bu…" I dared to look down quickly and watched as the small pokemon began to stir in my arms. It small eyes cracked open and I watched as its coal like eyes looked up at me in surprise before looking around.

"Hey little one…" I held her closer to myself and gently as I possibly could. The pokemon looked around and turned to Cheryl next, locking onto her face.

"Hello little pokemon, my friend and I took care of your wounds best we could, but you need to eat some healing berries to help you as well." Cheryl then handed me some berries that we had already cut up into smaller pieces to allow for easy chewing from the pokemon. She slowly went to reach out for the piece, but found she couldn't move her arms. She looked down to them and saw all the bandages all over her body and sobbed as she saw her bandaged covered body as the memories came back to her. Tears feel loose from her eyes and she started to squirm but I held her down so she wouldn't aggravate her wounds.

"Don't hurt yourself." The pokemon cried and looked in all directions, looking for the two men that hurt her. "They're gone now, they can't hurt you anymore."

"Bun…" the pokemon huddled closer to me, holding onto my hair and chest in fear as she shook.

"You're safe now with us. We won't hurt you." Cheryl smiled at her. "Now you should eat to get your strength back."

The pokemon didn't quiet down easily. It was petrified of her surroundings and hug close to my body. I held a small piece of a fruit for her near her mouth, but she was too nervous to eat. I worriedly looked up to Cheryl and she sighed.

"I think more rest might be what she needs. Give her time to accept what happened and calm down." Cheryl sadly looked at me. "We better get some sleep then Eira… we'll need it to travel in the morning. Leave out some food for her in case she does get hungry and eats in the night."

"Okay." My pokmon were gathered around me for warmth and Cheryl and I left the fire going. Our pokemon would watch it while we slept since my pokemon were hell bent on making sure that we were protected at all costs.

I gently laid down the pokemon's body on top of my chest while I rolled onto my side. Once we were gently on the ground, I set her down with my arm protectively over her while I curled into my other arm and rested. It didn't take long for me to fall to the world of blackness.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

I was surprised when the next morning came and I woke up to movement next to me. I barely opened my eyes and saw the small pokemon in my arms was moving around and trying to grab at the berries that were next to us. I watched as she took down a few bites of the berries we'd chopped up before she turned her head and looked over at me. Her eyes went wide as I slowly moved around to lie on my stomach and watch her.

"Good morning. How are you feeling?" The pokemon was sitting only a few inches from me and she seemed to be nervous.

"Mag." Magma came over to us, being the only other one up since he was patrolling the area. He turned to the other pokemon. "Mag magby mag!"

"Bun…?" The pokemon looked back at me before turning to Magma again. "Bun buneary?

I watched the two converse as Magma tried to explain what happened yesterday to the pokemon and how we had been taking care of her. She nervously looked back at me and the sleeping form of Cheryl before coming closer to me.

"Bun?"

I smiled at her softly. "I won't hurt you, but we were worried when you didn't wake up for a long time. We took care of those bad men… you can thank Magma, Bubbly and Elecky for that." My fire type nodded his head and the pokemon's expression finally seemed to relax a bit.

"Buneary…?"

"We left them behind, and we plan to do so again and get moving to pass through this forest." I gently raised my hand to softly brush her cheek. "Would you like to come with us? I don't want to leave you alone until your well..."

I was shocked with the little pokemon jumped into my arms and got herself comfortable there. She smiled up at me and put her two paws over mine, getting adjusted to being carried. "Bun bun!"

"You're more than welcome to stay with us as long as you like… Bouncy…"

"Bun…?" She looked up at me in question. I was randomly naming pokemon that I wanted to keep at my side again… I hoped she was okay with the overly cute name…

"A nickname for you… you're too cute not to have one…" I smiled at her as I hugged her closer. "I'll keep you safe Bouncy…"

"Buneary!" She patted my face and gave me a form of her own make shift hug.

"I'm glad to see your up." I watched as Cheryl sat up from where she lay. "How's our patient?"

"She's doing better and going to be coming with us." I smiled down at the pokemon. "Cheryl… meet Bouncy…"

"Ah yes… it's good to meet you Bouncy." Cheryl held out her hand and Bouncy placed her hand in hers to shake it softly. "Shall we get some breakfast and then head out? I believe we've stayed here long enough."

I nodded to her and Cheryl and I started right in on getting some things ready. I continued to hold the little pokemon close to me no matter what, and she preferred not to be put down either. It was only after a little why that I dared to question what type of pokemon Bouncy was, I never even knew…

I pulled out my pokedex and pointed it at her so it could gather her information before moving it away from her. _Buneary, the rabbit pokemon. Its ears are always rolled up. They can be forcefully extended to shatter even a large boulder. You can tell how it feels by the way it rolls its ears. When it's scared, both ears are rolled up. Buneary nests are only somewhat common in the Eterna Forest. Please wait… updating shiny information…_

I was surprised to hear that this pokemon was a shiny. I didn't really pay much attention to the men last night other than that they were abusing this poor pokemon, but now she didn't have to worry about that. She was on my team.

I pulled out a pokeball then and showed it to the small pokemon. It was a darker looking ball with fancy designs of gold and red all over it. It was called a luxury ball, normally owned by the rich. It was designed to make pokemon you capture in them friendlier toward its trainer. It didn't matter to me so long as Bouncy liked it and thought it was a good pokeball for her.

Once Bouncy saw it, her eyes lit up. She quickly hit the pokeball and was sucked inside of it casing. It didn't even take a swing to get her settled in. Once the pokeball settled, I happily let the poor thing back out and got her settled in my arms again. She sighed in content while the others were gathering food. My other two pokemon had woken up at that point and started eating. Shortly after that, we would move out to try and find the path to get us to the next city.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It was well into midday by the time we decided to stop and take a quick break for a drink of water and to check on Bouncy's wounds again. She was healing pretty well, other than that broken arm of hers, but we'd have that checked out once we got back to town.

It was quiet, and we'd made it through the forest by quite a few miles as the hours ticked by. We didn't manage to find another spring like we did before, but we did manage to find a berry field, one that my pokemon (especially Bubbly) went crazy over. They quickly dove in and started to eat the berries they could reach while Cheryl and I started to gather some for each other and for Bouncy in my arms. Other pokemon in the area joined us and we had a large feast with the berries for a good hour (mostly due to Bubbly filling up her stomach until we found another good spot like this) before we decided to move on.

Cheryl and I were on a sort of a path that we'd found after we left the field. It looked to be heading to the northwest, and that was the direction that the exit was in, so we followed it, based off our directions we were receiving from the sun…

I was surprised when later I heard a rustling in the bushes behind us. Elecky quickly jumped into action with Bubbly and Magma flanking her, Chansey on our backside in case something hit us from behind. I was surprised when an army of bug pokemon came at us. Magma was quick to blast fire at them and they instantly fell. Bubbly turned around to help Chansey behind us and a second wave came from that side. I was surprised that we were being randomly attacked like this, most of the pokemon in this forest have been nothing but kind to us thus far, why would they attack?

"Damn it!" I saw all the pokemon returned to a pokeball and that's when it hit me… a trainer, or two of them with the amount of pokemon they had. I watched as they appeared from the woods on either side. It was the two men that were beating Bouncy just yesterday. My blood boiled again as I watched the two of them march out of the woods with wounds still bleeding from the day before.

"You give us back our buneary!" one of them yelled. Bouncy began to shake in my arms and turned her head into my chest. I held her closer while glaring at the two men.

"Bouncy isn't yours, and you beat her to near death yesterday. She's lucky to be alive…" My eyes narrowed, temper starting to flare and my pokemon responded to it. "And you have the balls to demand us give her back to you?"

"Doesn't matter, we found her first which makes her ours!" One of the men decided to try and make his way closer to us but Elecky snarled out and bared her teeth. He jumped back in fear, the evident reminder of her attacking him on his arm from where it bled and the skin broke from her teeth.

"We need that shiny pokemon!" the other dared to speak out. "How are we supposed to become strong if we don't have a shiny?"

"Although this one's nothing special… it's so weak… I don't understand how it's still even alive…"

Air fired up and burned in my lungs as I glared at them. "I'm done talking to you, get out of our way and stop bothering us or my pokemon will attack again."

The both glared. "We're not leaving without that pokemon."

"So be it."

My pokemon lunged then. The two men raced forward to hit them, but their bodies never collided. I was surprised when two bodies lunged from the forest and slammed into the two men, pushing them aside. My pokemon watched in confusion as we saw the two men down for the count. I watched as it was a grotle that emerged as on one of the pokemon and another one that looked similar to Cameron's chimchar, but bigger…

"Hey! I found her!" Cheryl and I whipped around our heads to see, to my shock, Parker emerge from the woods. Behind him was Cameron with a worried look to his face.

"Sorry about attacking you like that Eira… those were most of the pokemon I'd caught after you left Parker and I a few days ago…" He rubbed the back of his head. "We found these guys knocked out and they mentioned that a couple of girls stole their pokemon, so we offered to help, but once we saw it was you, knew you had a good reason for it."

"Its fine… those two were beating Bouncy to death yesterday…"

"Really?" Parker looked in closer to the little shiny pokemon in my arms. "Poor thing… Has it had plenty of healing berries and what not?"

"Yes, Cheryl's been helping me with her recovery too." The woman behind me bowed her head respectfully and the boys mimicked her.

"Nice to meet you Cheryl. I'm Parker." My best friend held out his hand. "My partner over there is Grotle and I got another couple buddies on my team named Munchlax and Starly."

"And I'm Cameron, we're Eira's companions." He pointed to all the bug types before him. "Most of those pokemon are mine as well as Monferno behind us, my partner."

"Monferno…" I pulled out my pokedex to point it at the pokemon. Unlike before, he was bigger than before and a mask seemed to be outlined around his eyes in a bright blue. The fire on the end of its tail was bigger than before and a fluffy collar appeared to be around its neck.

 _Monferno, the playful pokemon and the evolved form of chimchar. Its skillfully controls the intensity of the fire on its tail to keep its goes at an ideal distance. A bigger fire on its tail and a bright blue pattern on its face means its rank in the pack is higher. There are no known monferno nests in this region._

 _Interesting…_

"We learned a lot though the different types of pokemon here, and I even managed to get a leafeon!" Cameron seemed so proud of himself. "It was sent back to the professor and once we get out of this forest, I plan to present my findings to him."

"So shall we head on?" Cheryl asked us. "I believe we are getting closer to the exit of the forest, but it will probably be another day's walk from now."

"Cool! I can show you some of the pokemon I've caught on the way." Cameron was already gushing as we walked away from the sight, leaving the men behind and Bouncy in my arms. She was still trembling a bit, but she was in good hands now, now longer stuck with those horrible men.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

We'd been on the road for another day. It'd been a long walk, but I felt we were getting close to the exit of this forest. The higher path that we'd found and walked along went into lots of peaks and valleys that we had to deal with, and I had to make sure Bouncy didn't get hurt during that time. I held her closer to me at those times to make sure not to jostle her body at all as we kept moving.

It was nearly sunset when we finally came to a bit of clearing that the others seemed to be pleased with for resting a few minutes. Cameron had endlessly talked about the pokemon he managed to capture, most of which he sent back with the professor during this time. Parker couldn't stop talking about his new pokemon, a munchlax, which ate nearly as much as Bubbly did. The two of them fought over food all the time and actually lashed out a few times, but I let them at it since it made them hungrier and relieved stress.

Cheryl on the other hand was enjoying the company of my two friends. She laughed at the lively atmosphere and joined in their conversations as we moved about. She enjoyed talking to Parker with how much energy he had and how much of an idiot he acted like. It amused Cheryl heavily, and her chansey.

While the others were resting in the field, I was standing off to the side a bit with Bouncy in my arms. She was taking a small drink of my water I was sharing with her when I heard musical notes float to my ears. I was surprised to hear them, especially out here in the forest. I followed after it quietly with my friends a short distance behind me, unnoticing to my movement or the music.

It was a guitar that was I hearing. It was so soothing a melody, one that I remembered hearing so often in the past that I couldn't pass up investigating it at all.

 _Well I heard there was a secret chord,  
That Latios played and it pleased the Lord,  
But you don't really care for music, do ya?  
Well it goes like this:  
The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift  
The baffled king composing Hallelujah…  
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah..._

I passed through a few bushes and I managed to find the source of the music. A young woman that looked maybe a year or two older than me had a richly colored dark grayish purple guitar in her hands that she was strumming while her voice filled the air. What stood out about her was the bright red scar on her face from what looked to be a burn. It looked as if someone had burned her with fire coated claws, three in number. Her eyes were closed, but I watched as her slightly tan fingers strummed over the strings. Her hair was in a strange style; it seemed that her hair was brought to either side of her head, cut to shoulder length, while the back of her head was shaved short. Bangs hung close to her brows. Green highlights seemed to be shared in the tan colored hair. Her clothing was little to none; she must have been used to the warmer weather or didn't mind the cold. A strapless shirt that was cut right above where her breasts were present with a see through green shirt of a sleeveless cut was covering it. Fingerless gloves on her fingers while black shorts were on her legs and her feet were bare, however, I saw that there was a cut in her shorts that showed off a tattoo of sorts on her upper thigh, just below her hip. Around her neck was a chain with a small jade like orb that hung loosely along with a rose gold locket and a golden bracelet on her wrist.

 _Well your faith was strong but you needed proof,  
You saw her bathing on the roof,  
Her beauty and the moonlight over through ya,  
She tied you to her kitchen chair,  
She broke your throne and she cut your hair,  
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah…  
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah..._

On her side was a male, possibly a bit younger than her. His vibrant green hair was short on his head, which leaned on her shoulder. He was snuggled right into her with a green button up shirt and black pants. His hands were smooth as I saw them from a distance and extremely pale skin covered his body. In his lap seemed to be a feline like pokemon, but neither a purugly or glameow. His feet were covered with sneakers on them, but like the girl he was leaning on, I could see that he had a diamond cut out of his pants on the side for a tattoo exactly in the same spot as the girl. Like the girl, this male had a necklace with a small pendant, but it was a sapphire color rather than jade.

 _Baby I've been here before  
I've seen this room and I've walked this floor (you know)  
I used to live alone before I knew ya  
And I've seen your flag on the marble arch  
And love is not a victory march  
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah  
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah..._

I then watched another woman to the side. She seemed to be dancing with a partner out in the space before the woman with the guitar. I watched the dancing woman; her hair was in bright red curls that cascaded down her back to her lower abdomen. They flew around her as her topaz colored eyes glowed at her partner that twirled her around. She seemed to be wearing a red, frilly summer dress with black shorts under it as well as small sneakers that covered her feet. She slid along the ground easily as she moved with her partner. Her slightly tan skin glowed in the sunset. She seemed to be the only one not wearing a necklace of the four.

 _There was a time when you let me know  
What's really going on below  
But now you never show that to me do ya  
But remember when I moved in you  
And the holy dove was moving too  
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah  
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah..._

The last of them appeared to be a male, the partner of the girl in the red dress. Short white hair seemed to be on his head with a green band holding back his hair. His ruby eyes watched his partner in happiness. He was dressed a bit strangely in what appeared to be leggings with shorts over them, both of a black color, while a short sleeved shirt of red and black color seemed to be on him. White shoes on his feet helped him dance around with his partner, turning her and dipping her every chance he got to make her smile and laugh. He had a necklace like the first two, but unlike his partner. The necklace was the same, but with a ruby stone in the center.

 _Maybe there's a God above  
But all I've ever learned from love  
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya  
And it's not a cry that you hear at night  
It's not somebody who's seen the light  
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah  
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...  
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...  
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah  
Hallelujah, hallelujah_

It was then that the woman's soft voice stopped and she strummed a few final notes on the guitar before she looked up strait at me, her eyes meeting mine and catching me like being caught in head lights.

"Did you enjoy the song sweetheart?" I watched as her three other companions turned to look at me, all surprised when they saw me at first before their expressions softened and they approached me slowly. The woman herself had stood up from her spot, but her eyes narrowed when she saw Bouncy in my arms. "What happened?"

"Some terrible people in the forest were beating her to death the other day, my friend Cheryl and I put a stop to it… or more my pokemon did…"

"I see…" The woman slowly approached us before I watched as she reached for Bouncy and I pulled her back in reflex. "Calm down… I just want to help her. I promise."

"…What are you going to do?"

"Heal her if you permit me."

I hesitated for a moment, but if this woman was telling the truth, Bouncy could be healed faster and not have to worry about that broken bone sticking out of her arm that Cheryl took care of.

"…Okay." I slacked my grip on Bouncy a bit so the woman would have her room to work. She gently reached forward to look at the arm, not touching much of the bandage, but I watched as her eyes turned red and seemed to only be one for a moment before they turned back to normal.

"Damn… those bastards split that sucker in half." She looked at Bouncy. "I bet this hurts a lot, doesn't it little one?"

"Bun…" Bouncy nodded her head.

"Let's see if we can fix that, shall we?" The woman gently pulled away the bandage on my pokemon's arm and she hovered her hand over it before I saw her entire body change. She grew beautiful wings out of her back that reminded me of a fairy, her hair turned a light purple color and her eyes a crystal blue…

There was no doubt in my mind that she was a changeling…

I watched, seeing the beautiful bright energy of light healing my pokemon where I could not. It only took her but a few seconds in order to heal some of the apparent wounds on my pokemon, but she did it. When she was done, she cut off her powers and returned to normal, her emerald green eyes glancing at me as she gently reached for the wrapping for Bouncy's arm. I was surprised when Bouncy didn't make a sound, not hurt by anything. The woman pulled off the entire bandage and showed me that she had healed the bone and the skin all together. Bouncy moved it around and when it hardly hurt, she gave a cheer before jumping from my arms and bouncing all over the location. I watched her squeal as she reached a high tree branch.

"There, she seems a lot happier now." The woman smiled as she watched Bouncy lively in the area.

"Thank you…" I held out my hand for her to shake and she smiled at that. "I'm Eira…"

"Eira… that's a really beautiful name." She grinned at me before taking my hand. "Got a last one too?"

"Helaine…"

"Eira Helaine… It's got a nice ring to it... Congrats to your parents." She grinned before jabbing a finger at herself. "I'm Jezebel."

"Jezebel…" I blinked at her as the wheels started to click and move in my head. "Champion Jezebel Emery-Twain?"

"Bingo." She looked around for a moment before she hushed me. "Me and my friends are out here to keep an eye out for suspicious activity as well as strong trainers to keep an eye on that Team Galactic or Rosalie Agustino might be after."

"I've faced Team Galactic…" Her eyes and that of her companions grew shocked.

"Really? Someone of your shy nature doesn't seem like the type to do that."

"Someone like… me?" Jezebel turned her head to look at her boyfriend.

She grinned nervously. "Sorry about that babe. You know what I mean. If you hadn't of been put in the pinches you were in, I doubt you would have faced them too." He shrugged before she looked back at me. "I guess you've had to deal with them a time or two?"

I nodded my head. "Jublife… they attacked the professor… Floroma… they attacked the honey fields and the Valley Windworks…"

The champion held a finger to her chin. "Did they mention what they were after?"

I nodded. "The professor's notes on evolution… honey from the fields to attract pokemon in large numbers… and they collected power from the Valley Windworks…"

"Yikes…" the red haired girl muttered. "Jez, does that add up to anything you can think of?"

"Not without a goal in mind…" Jezebel sighed before she glanced at me again. "Is there a goal that they might have mentioned to you?"

I shook my head at her. There was nothing that came to mind. They seemed to have kept mostly tightlipped on most of their organization and what they were after, only speaking of what they were after at the time, such as items or power and what not.

"Eira!" I whipped my head around to see my best friend push through the bushes with the others right behind him. "Eira! Where are you-holy crap!"

Parker's sudden outburst caught the attention of nearly everyone in the area. All eight of us looked at each other before I watched as Parker's eyes sparkled and he rushed over to the woman before me.

"Champion Jezebel Emery-Twain! Oh my Arceus! This is such an honor to meet you and your team and companions!" Everyone looked at each other in confusion before Parker grabbed her hands. He rapidly shook them in his own. "I idolize you and the other champions and members of the IPHP League that work so hard to keep everything so safe!"  
Laughter burst out then from the girl behind Jezebel that I assumed was the famous Aria Charolette who reported often on world affairs, rising stars, and the IPHP League in general, sometimes using the media in order to confuse enemies as well as give out some hidden information to the public.

"I'm sorry!" She wiped away the tears she let loose as she laughed. "But I could _not_ help but do that!"

It was only moments later when the rest of their group laughed too. I couldn't help but giggle as well at Parker's sudden change in mood while he stood before us and sulked. Soon the entire circle of everyone, including Parker, was laughing.

Once the laughing had stopped, Jezebel waved her arm for us to follow her.

"Come on you guys, let's talk and I'll take you to the exit."

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

After spending a good hour or so with the champion of Hoenn, she led us to a dark looking building that seemed to be hidden in the trees. Right at the entrance of the building was an enormous ghost pokemon that had a single red eye and grey body, no legs, and yellow markings all over it.

"Ah! There you are Darkness!" Jezebel rushed right up to the pokemon and put a hand to his cheek. He looked longingly at her before another pokemon approached at his side. It was a female looking pokemon that seemed to be coated in ice and looked like a small woman that had morphed into a pokemon form. "How did it go inside with Froslass?"

"Dusk…" I could hear his words, slow and meaningful; he didn't seem to need to put any energy into them.

"So the residents have been here for nearly sixty years?" the woman questioned before her face darkened. "What was the cause of death?"

"Death?" I was entirely enticed and confused by the few words she let out. Jezebel seemed to sigh before she turned back to her group and ourselves.

"Over sixty years ago, this building here, the Old Chateau as it's called, used to be a rich family's home, but a mysterious murder of the family took place and only one person survived the onslaught. The son of the head of the family was named Charon Bellamy, his little sister Celeste and the family's close friend and butler Anthony du Pont both died in this house after both children were orphaned due to the death of their father in an accident." She sighed. "The two souls trapped here are still inside this location. No one really knows what happened to the son, he was found and put into an orphanage, but all of his money was taken and he vanished, so there are no leads to his place. My ghost pokemon and Casey's have been speaking with the ghosts and ghost pokemon in this location to see if we can find any clues for this cold case." Her hands tightened and she gritted her teeth. "But the residence can't remember who attacked them, or are too afraid to answer. It varies between the two of them. The little girl we think remembers, but she's staying quiet. The butler was murdered in his sleep, so he's unaware of what happened. Only that his spirit was trapped to the house and he endlessly roams it, watching as it crumbles away…"

"That's horrible…" My eyes turned sad as I looked out at the house. I could see a little blue light of what I assumed was a ghost looking out at us.

"It is… I've been working at this case a bit, but the little girl just doesn't want to open up… even with the coaxing of the butler that she trusts."

"She must still be scared or something Jez… I mean… she's been like this for nearly sixty years…" Aria put a hand to her friend's shoulder.

"Maybe your approach is wrong…" The two of them looked back at me. I shrugged and turned my head. "I mean… sixty years of suffering from that attack… would she really like to just talk about it off the bat about it? …I think maybe you need to build trust with her first… play games with her and try to understand how she feels…"

"That's… actually a good idea… I think I'm still a little physical about things…" Jezebel rubbed the back of her head.

I smiled at her, glad to be of possible help.

"Yeah… well I'm going to head over to the next town… I'm not sticking around this place…" Parker had been hiding behind Cheryl for the longest time as well.

I had to place a hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing. "Parker doesn't like haunted places… or ghost pokemon since he was a kid…"

"Eira!" Parker whined behind my female friend I met on this trip.

"I should probably be going to… I have a friend of mine that's waiting for me in this city." Cheryl turned her head with a finger to her chin, thinking. "I'm sure Mira is worried sick that I took so long to get through this forest…"

"Then we should probably go then." Cameron nodded and the three trainers turned to the four powerful people we met as well as me. "Thank you so much for all your help and talking with us. Hopefully we'll see you again soon." Cameron turned to me. "Coming Eira?"

"I'll be along soon… I just have a few things I wish to talk to Champion Jezebel about." My friends nodded and waved, heading off while I turned back to the champion of this region and I watched her face look at me in question.

"What is it Eira? And you don't have to call me champion, just Jezebel is fine. Or Jez if you prefer, I go by either."

"I have a question about something that's been… going on for many years now… and certain things have been brothering me…" I sucked in a breath before looking back at her nervously. "Do you know of the name Giratina?"

She flinched a bit when I mentioned the name. She looked back to her three companions before turning back to me. "Yes… Giratina was one of the three legendary life forms that governs a part of reality, same such as Dialga and Palkia, governors of time and space respectively. However, due to Giratina losing control, it was banished to the world of distortion that it governs until one of our world releases it from its solitude. Giratina is believed to be evil; others believe it to be misunderstood. No one knows the true reason why it raged." She crossed her arms. "Why do you ask?"

"Because… I've been connected to a pokemon for many years… I end up in this strange world that rules are not like our own… I met a pokemon… who I believe is Giratina, who has communicated with me for most of my life…" I looked up to the woman worriedly. "Has this happened before?"

Jezebel seemed perplexed by my question as I waited for her to say anything to me that might explain anything. She seemed to be raking her brain for any idea that would come to the surface before something seemed to hit her and she turned to me.

"I can't honestly explain how you're connected to a legendary pokemon, or why they are connected to you or why you see Giratina at night in your dreams, but for people to have communicated with pokemon in special ways like this? That is normal to a certain degree. Not everyone can share that same experience with you, but I've had times in the past where I shared dreams and memories with my pokemon, where we're connected. I've been separated from all of them and experienced dreams where I would communicate with them and it only made our bonds stronger… Giratina may have searched high and low for someone to communicate with, but only you seemed to be of a matching set for it. Is there anything that you think the two of you share in common?"

I had to think about that for a moment. It took me many years to come to trust Shadow, but once I did, it made things so much easier between us. The two of us… we both suffered in the past from others and what they did to us. We both had pasts that we were trying to heal from or forget in some way shape or form… We've suffered for so long… it made an understanding between us…

"Untrusting… lonely… suffering…" Jezebel slowly nodded at me while she reached forward and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Well, I'll keep looking into it for you. Go rest and have fun with your friends and I'll ask the other champions and my friends for some ideas on this as well. Okay?"

I slowly nodded to the woman and hugged her before turning away and rushing off with my pokemon. The sun was nearly gone now. I didn't want to have to worry about finding my way out through the night…

 **Jezebel's Point of View:**

Talking with that girl, Eira Helaine, she was more than interesting when we first met her, but apparently there was more then what she had told me to her. As I watched her, as I studied her with my friends and boyfriend at my side, the girl was suffering… a long time suffering that had not completely healed… and one that wasn't even her own to endure seemed to be connected to her. And when she brought up Giratina, it made all that much more sense… but I didn't want to frighten the girl with too much information… I often handled things much too physically…

"I think you handled that well Jezebel…" Mattie took his hand in mine once the girl was gone.

"I hope so…" I sighed. "I mean… you guys saw what I did right?"

"A girl that's been suffering way too long and is surprisingly still hanging in there." Casey groaned as he rubbed the back of his head. "Latios Jez… she like a mixture of you and Mattie without all the anger and stuff. Just the suffering…"

"I know… and it's painful to watch…" I sucked in a breath.

"What should we do? We can't just leave her alone…" Aria jumped in. "I mean, besides all that bad stuff, didn't you guys feel how strong she was? That suffering she's going through could turn into some raw energy and she could snap worse then you did Jez…"

"Don't remind me… I hate that memory…" I cringed as the memories of me nearly destroying Mossdeep Island came flooding back to me. "But I'm worried too; she's just like what Looker warned us of…" I reached for my pokenav and whipped it out of my pocket before dialing. "I'm calling Violet."

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Alright! Our first really long chapter for Eira! And we have a new member for her team! Bouncy the shiny buneary! I've been waiting for a while to bright her out now! And we even got to see Jez and her group in this chapter! And they got some serious eyes on Eira, who they have MANY concerns for! I can't wait to work more with this and some of the back story with the ghosts of this place! It was not just a filler!**

 **But now people, I need a little break and need to get back to typing some more! See you all soon and don't forget to Review and send in Questions! I love you all and see you next week on Saturday!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	9. An Eternal Running Streak

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 9: An Eternal Running Streak_

 **Third Person Point of View:**

It was the middle of the night in the city of Eterna. The city was quiet, most lights of the little city were mostly off and trees hiding most of the glow. At the very back of the town sat a building rented out by a large company. Inside this very building were members of the mysterious and ruthless Team Galactic. No one knew that they were in the city or what they were doing at all in the building, but evidence that I was not all holy could be told from the cries that echoed from the deeper halls of the base.

Only a few members resided here, most were out on other operations or at their home base, at an unknown location. One of them in particular was a woman, she was a higher up in command from the way she was dressed differently than the grunts. At her side was another woman who followed her, coated in a cloak to hide her identity.

"So our boss wants us to gather as many pokemon from this area as we can get our hands on for the operation up in the mountains, are you assisting in that assignment or just roaming the region?"

The woman did not get a vocal answer. Icy blue eyes glared at her from under the cloak she wore.

"Sorry I asked… I forgot you lost your voice."

All in a moment, the woman was thrown to the ground, thrashing about in pain while the woman in the cloak merely smiled at her. The Team Galactic commander was chocking on her own breathe while the woman above her smirked.

 _Don't test my patience little girl… I'm not a woman you wish to cross if you value your life._

"Sis, you gotta leave her alive if this operation is going to be complete and put into action with the other ones." The cloaked woman turned her head and saw another cloaked figure approaching the two women. He also had a cloak over his body, but icy blue eyes matched the other hidden figure. "Cyrus needs her alive to complete this work, and nothing will go as planned if that changes."

… _Fine…_ The ghostly hold was released and the Galactic woman rolled over and gasped for breath, which may have well been her last. She turned her head to glare up at the two above her, but the intensity of their eyes forced her to submit, close them and turn away.

"Why don't we check on another section of the region? I know you've been waiting to get another pokemon for your team, and I have a good idea of one that you and I could get."

 _Really?_ The woman looked back at the male in interest.

"Yeah, I've heard there's a pair of pokemon that have been hiding way since they killed their own trainer. Blood is on their hands and they know how to kill. Sounds like perfect members for you who could help take down those bitches that keep getting in our way."

 _Sounds perfect…_ The woman smiled as she decided to leave, the male following her and leaving the many stunned grunts of the base behind to rush and help their commander.

Rose Agustino would not be beat yet.

 **Eira's Point of View (Dream):**

 _Once we had gotten to the city the night before, Cheryl had departed from our group, running off to find her friend that was waiting on her. Cheryl did, however, give me her number as to meet her again. Spending time in the woods with her was more than fun._

 _Regardless of that though, once I fell asleep in the comfort of my pokemon, friends and the pokemon center bed, I was cast once more to the world of shadows and bewilderment… the distorted world… It was once again here that I found myself at the plateau that Shadow waited for me at. She was there once more, watching my every move as I appeared._

 _"Gya!" Her tone was happy as I came into view and was once again in her world._

 _"Hello Shadow… how are you?" I reached my hand out and the ghost dragon cuddled her head right into my hands. She cooed at me lightly, mentioning to me that she was more than happy to see me now rather than before when she was alone._

 _"Gya…" She turned her head to the island off to the side where the light was coming from. I turned my head to look in that direction before Shadow got in my line of sight._

 _"What is it Shadow?" She turned her head over to where I saw a portal next to us. I slowly approached the portal that was beside us and I was surprised to see a rotting home on the inside of it. I blinked a few times before I saw a little girl appear before me on the other side of the portal. She looked at me wearily, blinking at me through the vortex. She only appeared to be about nine…_

 _"You're friends with the queen." I was surprised when the girl talked to me. "The queen likes you, I was surprised."_

 _"The queen?" I blinked at her before she pointed to Shadow behind me. "Oh… you mean my friend Shadow…"_

 _"That's the queen's name? Queen Shadow?"_

 _I wasn't sure how the little girl had gathered that Shadow was a queen, but I could always just let that slide. It probably was related to the fact that she was a legendary pokemon._

 _"So who are you?" I looked back down at the little girl. "I'm Eira."_

 _"I'm Celeste!" She smiled at me. "Will you be my friend like Rotom is?"_

 _"Who is Rotom?"_

 _"Bttz!" I blinked as something came through the portal and was at my side. The girl came through as well as a pokemon next to her. The pokemon itself reminded me of a small tool head, but on the larger part of it, below the point, were eye sockets with eye balls with pupils that almost looked like they were split in half by a black line. Blue eyes looked at me happily while a bright orange body was below a light blue electric glow. Lightning bolts acted as a sort of arms for the creature as it flew around my head._

 _I pulled out my pokedex and pointed it at the pokemon._ _ **Rotom, the plasma pokemon. Its electric-like body can enter some kinds of machines and take control in order to make mischief. Research continues on this pokemon, which could be the power source of a unique motor. There are no rotom nests in this region.**_

 _The girl happily looked at Rotom as it zipped around her. She herself was coated in a cute little dress of a dark blue color, looking like a silky night dress. The only thing that I found slightly disturbing was the small bit of blood that seeped through her dress where it looked like a knife had been plunged into her heart. Her hair was long, light lavender in color that cascaded down her shoulders to her lower back. Eyes of coal looked back at me with a happiness I'd never expect from such a pained spirit._

 _"Sure… if you don't mind me asking though… how do you know Shadow?" Celeste looked up at me in question before she pouted._

 _"The queen chose me before she did you Miss Eira. But I was killed before I could meet her in person. The queen allowed me to come to her world through a portal in my house so I can see her all the time and so I'm not lonely… but Rotom makes sure I'm not lonely either!"_

 _I blinked at her. "You were killed?"_

 _"Yeah… a long time ago… I saw you, when you were attached to your body still. You saw me too, from my window."_

 _My eyes went wide as I felt the thoughts coming together in my head. "Your Celeste Bellamy… you were murdered over sixty years ago…"My eyes trailed down as I thought of all the things I discussed with the champion of the Hoenn region._

 _"You were talking about me with the lady who's trying to find out who murdered us…"_

 _"Champion Jezebel…" I looked up at the girl. "She only wishes to bring justice to your family… capture your killer and make them stand trial for their crimes against you…"_

 _"But that means giving him away… I don't want him in trouble…"_

 _"You do know…" I didn't know if she heard me that time, but I could see from the troubled face on her that she wanted to_ _ **not**_ _talk about this._

 _"We don't have to talk about it, do we?" Celeste looked up at me with beady eyes, praying that I wouldn't push the subject._

 _"No… we don't have to…" I gently reached toward her and rubbed the top of her head affectionately. She smiled, happy about that before she turned to the light._

 _"Are you going to get the orb?"_

 _"Orb?" I blinked at her._

 _"The queen has an orb that only her chosen human can wield. I only got to see it before I died… but the queen wishes for you to have it!" She grinned up at me. "It's truly an item that makes you and the queen more attached to her and boost her power. It would be stored inside your body, or could become smaller and worn as a pendant, much like the lady does with her orb."_

 _"Well…" I slowly nodded my head as I looked out to the orb, then back at the girl. "If Shadow feels it's right for me to have it, then I will take it with her permission."_

 _"I can lead you there!" Celeste grabbed my hand and began to drag me in the direction of the bright light of the item off in the distance that was an apparent orb._

 _"Thank you Celeste, I appreciate that." I smiled at the little girl before I felt something happening. My vision was fading out and blackness was coming to me. I was being woken…_

 _"Aww… is it time already? You just got here!" Celeste and her pokemon cried out, but Shadow was the one who looked the most pained. I reached up for her and petted her head._

 _"Don't worry; I'll be back before you know it." I smiled at her before I totally faded from view and them from mine._

 **Eira's Point of View (Awake):**

I slowly allowed my eyes to drift around me, looking at the person waking me from my slumber. Cameron stood there over my bed already awake and ready for the day.

"Morning sleepy, how you feeling?"

"I was having a good dream… Why did you wake me up?"

"Parker took off for the gym already, and I know you want to get your crack in with the gym leader. I'm not so interested in that, so I'll just train with you guys later. I figured since it was nearly nine you would want to get up and start heading over. Parker left an hour and a half ago."

 _Really? He was up that early?_ My eyes widened at Cameron before I sat up. I stretched and my pokemon were all sleeping around me. "I'll get them up and get ready. You should head downstairs. If you wake them up… you might not survive."

"Yeah… I was going to leave that to you anyway…" Cameron slowly backed away from me before quietly leaving the room. Once the door was shut, I sighed, remembering my dream before turning to all my pokemon.

 _I could wait to wake them up once I was through with a shower… right?_ I quickly nodded to myself and grabbed some clothes and headed for the shower before looking back at my team sleeping soundly. I smiled at the four of them before I closed the door and started the water.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Once I was washed and dressed, I came back to the room I saw that my pokemon were awake and nearly ready to go other then Bubbly, who calmly still slept. I simply giggled at her before returning her to her pokeball. She would eat later. I wouldn't force her up if she was still tired. It wasn't like she was battling today.

I looked over at Magma, he was more than pleased to be able to fight today. It was a grass type gym, so he'd have a good advantage. If Cameron had decided to take the challenge he would to, having both bug and fire types on his team. Parker would as well, having his starly. Who knows how well he was doing at the moment…

I shook my head before Bouncy jumped up into my arms and both Elecky and Magma stood at my sides, ready to go. I led them down to the first floor and ordered us all food to eat. While I was nibbling on my food, a pokeball opened and I watched as Bubbly staggered forward, looking for food. I handed her part of my own.

"Eat up… I'll get more." Bubbly's eyes lit up before she pounced on the food as if it was the last piece on the planet. She happily munched on the food while more was rushed in by the staff. Bubbly's eyes glowed once she saw the extra food that I grabbed for her. I nibbled on what I had before me while Bouncy was also eating from my plate, not every hungry herself as she nibbled what we shared together. Elecky was sitting in my lap while Bubbly sat on top of her as a seat. Elecky had Magma sitting before her who was tossing her food while Magma was before a few sets of plates, trying to take what he could for him and Elecky, who wasn't really paying attention other than when something was being thrown at her mouth, before Bubbly took it all.

Once my team had their fill (Bubbly a little grumbly that she didn't get more food) we headed out to the gym to where Parker and Cameron were already waiting on us. I know that Parker took the challenge, though I wasn't sure if Cameron changed his mind or not.

Just down the street was the supposed gym. With it being a grass type, I was more than prepared for the place to be covered in nothing but grass, trees and flowers. I was not disappointed in the sense when I stepped inside. Overwhelming scents filled my nostrils with flowers that bloomed only during the fall and annuals that bloomed during the warmer season or inside. Chrysanthemums coated the entrance of the building; I could see the flowers of many sorts of colors along with staghorn sumacs that gave off most of the colors in the room. I saw it was the outdoor room, which had a roof missing from overhead for plants to grown through. It seemed it was okay to battle on, but there was no one here.

"Hey Eira!" I turned my head and watched as Parker rushed toward me. I blinked at him a time or two before he pulled something out of his pocket and showed it to me. It was a gym badge, one that looked like three trees next to each other, one closer than the other two, that made me think of a piece of a forest. "Check out my badge! I beat Gardenia!"

I smiled at him, happy for his accomplishment. I looked toward where he came from before Cameron also appeared and a woman next to him. This woman was dressed in shorts that were brown, hiking boots that came up to her ankles. A long sleeved green shirt appeared to be on her that was cut off just below her breast while a short piece of cloth seemed to be attached by a single button over her shoulders, like the top part of a cloak with a hood and everything, but it was cut off at the middle of her chest. Her hair was short and light brown, framing around her face with a black band under her bangs to keep them out of her face. Her amber like eyes sparkled when she saw me. Tanned skin was glowing as she walked a little faster to get closer to me.

"I bet you're my next challenger, right?" The woman grinned as she held out her hand for me to shake. "Name Gardenia Zinnia, and I'll be your opponent!"

"Eira… Helaine…" I held out my hand for her to shake. She had a strong grip compared to my soft one.

"Oh yeah! Your friend Parker was just talking about you!" She pulled back her hand and winked at me. "I also saw your clip from Roark, man was that a battle! I can't wait to face off against you!"

"…So shall we then?" The woman nodded before she led me into the back room. Once I made it inside, this room was filled with nothing but annuals and tropical plants and grass. It looked amazing, but there must have been some sort of way to keep those plants from being messed up.

"Oh, and just to let you know," Gardenia caught my attention as I looked at all the flowers. "We have a psychic type here that has up a barrier in order to prevent the plants from being ruined, so you're aware. We'll be locked inside once we get onto the battlefield. If our pokemon get tossed around, they'll hit the field and nothing more, unless slammed on the ground."

I nodded to her before looking over at Magma. He nodded at me before making his way over to the field. He stepped in and puffed out some fire from his mouth. Gardenia sighed at the pokemon.

"And I was warned about this power house too… great, another pokemon with an advantage type… but I'm still going to do my best to clobber you!"

I felt a small smirk make its way to my face, the blood already starting to pump from an exciting battle coming in my direction. "We'll see…"

"Alright, let's start out Turtwig!" Gardenia's first pokemon surprised me as being the starter that Parker had before he evolved into a grotle. It looked quite quick and ready to go as it jumped on the battlefield.

"We'll start out… Magma, use smokescreen." My magby grinned out to the field before he puffed up his cheeks and the entire field was covered in smoke. I could then see the barrier that Gardenia was talking about as the smoke circled around inside. I coughed as it circled back to where I was before a break in the barrier was made above to remove some of it. "Head butt!"

"Mag!" Magma jumped through the smoke and I heard a smashing sound before I saw the grass type thrown into the invisible wall. It shook its head from the attack and got back up before Magma appeared out of the smoke before it. It gasped.

"Look out!" Gardenia cried.

"Lava plume!" It was to my surprise that among the smoke that was let loose that the smokescreen caught fire once Magma lit up his attack. The very place exploded and it took down the field that surrounded us. Gardenia screamed as the fire sputtered around and threw her pokemon back. The fire swirled around my own pokemon, who grinned out at the defeated pokemon, which landed on the ground and knocked out.

The fire swirled around Magma ferociously before he turned white, glowing. My eyes widened as his body doubled in size, slightly taller than myself. His tail became twice as long as his claws became elongated. When the white light shattered off of him, Magma was covered in colors of a flame, mostly red with shades of yellow and orange. His beak on his face became bigger and a flame appeared on his tail while his head turned into the shapes of flames. His eye brows were enlarged and covered part of his eyes, giving him a more edgy look.

"Mag…" Magma grinned as the fire swirled around him still and he took enjoyment in the heat. He was a magmar now…

I quickly pulled out my pokedex and pointed it at the new evolution on my team. _Magmar, the spitfire pokemon. Born in the spout of a volcano, its body is covered by flames that shimmer like the sun. When it breathes deeply, heat waves form around its body, making it hard to see clearly. Magmar nests are rare and tend to be around Fuego Ironworks._

I smiled as I looked at my pokemon who grinned back over at me. "I'm happy for you Magma…"

"Mag!" His voice was so much deeper now, a level of deep that I could never hope to achieve. He huffed out, fire burst nearly from his lungs as the waves of heat started to cloak around him and Gardenia flinched as she watched him.

"What is with the pokemon you have?" Gardenia groaned as she returned her first pokemon.

"They just love to fight…" I smiled at her sweetly and I could hear the laughter of Parker and Cameron in the stands.

"Aww man…" Gardenia sighed but pulled out another pokeball. "Well, I'm just going to have to try harder! Let's go Cherrim!"

I was surprised when I saw a small yellow pokemon that had little red, round berries attached just above its eyes with a pink sort of material, which seemed like petals, covering its body as well as appearing out of its back, ready to cover itself. It didn't look any bigger then Bouncy did in size, probably. I pulled out my pokedex and pointed it at the pokemon.

 _Cherrim, the blossom pokemon and the evolved form of cherubi. Cherrim is normally in its overcast form, where the petals around its body are closed like a flower bud, but changes its form when intense sunlight is overhead. There are no cherrim nests in this region._

I glanced at the pokemon as the light shone down on it from the artificial lighting above as it danced around on the field. Gardenia cringed as she looked at my pokemon and the intense waves around his body that started to obscure our vision of the area around him.

"Be careful Cherrim! That pokemon you don't want to get in close to!" Gardenia warned her pokemon before it jumped a bit further back from my pokemon. I couldn't help but giggle lightly at her attempts to keep her pokemon from harm. _I mean… not to be rude, but as a grass type, wouldn't it go down anyway? Magma was overpowering, no different than Bubbly and Elecky… Bouncy might not be, but the rest of my team would make up for that so long as she's happy._

"Go get it Magma, flamethrower!" The blood was pumping now. I wasn't sure if it was the atmosphere of the location or if it was the frustration and fear on Gardenia's face. My fire type, however, didn't allow her the chance to attack or get away. He unleashed a blast of fire that short quickly at the grass type. It screeched out in pain as it just barely avoided the main portion of Magma's attack. I saw its petals on fire however and it dropped and rolled, trying to put out the blaze on its body.

"Cherrim!" Gardenia cried out worriedly.

"Finish it off with fire punch!" Magma leapt forward with his fist covered in flames. The pokemon screeched out and covered its eyes before something blocked my pokemon's way.

"Stop it!" Gardenia had rushed out onto the field herself and shielded her pokemon. "Cherrim's had enough!"

"Magma!" My pokemon halted even before I'd called out. He held his arm, ready to strike, but did not move as the woman was in his way. Magma may have loved to battle, but he and I didn't dare hurt another human or pokemon that wasn't able to fight back or was beaten. "Back off."

My pokemon did as such pulling back his fist before returning to my side of the field. He patiently waited on the woman to gather up the pokemon in her arms and quickly send it off to be checked and healed while she pulled out a worn pokeball from her pocket.

"I guess I'm going to need to go all out if I have a chance of beating you…" Gardenia sighed. "Man girl… your sweet and nice and all that, but you got a evil streak inside of you."

"…Battling and dealing with criminals I face tends to bring that out a bit… sorry…"

"Well... maybe I might not beat you, but I can at least make you work for that badge with my last and most trusted pokemon. Go Roserade!"

Her third and last pokemon that came out was just as frilly looking as the last. Large blossoms were its hands with what seemed to be almost a white rose or hair on its head. Red eyes glanced back at me with no fear. Its green body was small, only about up to my shoulders. It almost seemed to have a cape of leaves flowing down its back.

 _So this was her last pokemon? It looks stronger than the others with that slight fighter look to it. Of course, it is her last pokemon, so that's how that normally works. Wait… isn't a roserade a grass_ _ **and**_ _poison type? I blinked at it wearingly. I'd have to watch out for that…_

"Alright Roserade! We're starting off this time! Hit that thing with sludge bomb!" My eyes widened as the new attack came flying in at me and my pokemon.  
"Magma-" I couldn't even get in an order before the attack hit his newly evolved body. The sludge instantly heated up and melted off his body, but not before noxious gases filtered through the air. Magma growled as the air got to him and he began to cough and chock. I covered my own mouth as I looked at the poisons gas coming toward myself. It slowly faded into the air, but it still hung around my fire type.

"Yes! We got him Roserade!" Gardenia cheered as she looked to her pokemon before she looked back. Magma wheezed at her before lava seemed to drool from his mouth and she dared to look back as lava coated in purple gunk flowed out of his mouth. She flinched as she watched my pokemon basically throw up the poison that entered his body. "The hell?"

"Magma… wouldn't be so easily taken down… by that one attack… poison or not." I smiled sweetly at her before shaking my head while Magma burped out the last bit before patting his stomach. He grinned toward the fearful opponent on the other side of the field that seemed to think there was no way to overcome him.

And in this situation, there probably wasn't.

"Magma, be more careful of those poison attacks, but I believe it's time to get started." With blood pumping hard in my veins, I threw out my arm and Magma stiffened, waiting for an order. "Flamethrower!"

"Mag!" Magma's attack blasted across the field and Gardenia's pokemon and herself nearly were matched in character as they both dove. The fire hit the wall behind them which was the exit door, Gardenia looked up and watched in horror as the very door she'd walked through with me earlier was on fire and reduced partly to dust. Without the barrier in play, Gardenia was worried about her beautiful field around us.

"You should worry less about your field and more about the battle." Magma huffed out as I spoke to the fretting gym leader. "I love plants too, but they will grow back or can be replaced. Focus on the battle now!"

Gardenia gritted her teeth before she jumped back to her feet. "Fine! Roserade! Use poison jab!"

"Rose!" The pokemon flipped back up to its feet before it booked it toward Magma with its bouquet like hands glowing purple.

"Magma! Fire punch, take that pokemon out!" Magma's fist became coated in thick flames before the two pokemon met in the middle of the field and their fists reached for one another. In the instant they were about to meet, Magma brought forward his longer tail to throw the pokemon's arm to the side, leaving it open for an attack. I watched the pokemon flinch as the fire punch decked her right in the face, part of her mask catching fire, before she was thrown back at Gardenia and into her arms.

The woman screeched before running to turn on a water system. Sprinklers soon came on and Magma quickly returned to my side before he could get wet, staying in a mostly dry spot with me and my other pokemon. The water quickly put out any flames in the area or on the pokemon while Magma was safely still burning by my side. He grinned at me and I smiled happily at him, showing him he'd done more then well in this battle.

"Damn… you really gave me a heart attack!" I looked back up at the woman as she returned her pokemon, slightly soaked herself. "You really are as powerful as Roark said." She nervously smiled. "Now I'm kinda nervous to battle you again in the future."

"Sorry…" My eyes traveled down to the floor and I heard the woman take in a sharp breath.

"No! No no no!" She was wildly shaking her hands before her before she grabbed my arms. "You did what was asking and beat me, fair and square. And for that, I owe you a gym badge, don't I?"

I was surprised when she handed me the same little tree like badge that she had give Parker earlier on. It fit nicely in the palm of my hand and I showed it to Magma, who was proud he earned it for our team. I smiled back at the four of my pokemon before putting the badge in its case and looking back at the woman. "Now I gotta get this place cleaned up and find out what happened to that exeggcute…"

She walked off then and I turned to see the boys pounce on me in cheers.

"Way to go Eira! Badge number two!" Parker grinned as he threw an arm over my shoulders and Magma's. "Nice job, you guys were-oww!"

Parker quickly pulled back when he noticed Magma's tail had gotten to closer to his leg. He jumped and hissed as the light burn he got there while my pokemon laughed at him. I couldn't help but giggle myself before telling Bubbly to blow some water on it to cool it off.

"Are you alright Parker?" I tried to control my laughter, but it was difficult with him pouting over at me while Bubbly let loose a water gun on his leg gently.

"I'll be fine…" I rolled my eyes at him before he threw his arms over my shoulders. "Hey, we should go take a look around town for a bit before we see about what we plan to do next!"

"You know, there's a popular ancient statue that we could take a look at." Cameron suggested as he dared to step closer. "The professor and I had seen it a few times and its quite amazing to look at, it's based off two legendary pokemon from history that control time and space."

"Dude! That sounds awesome!" Parker looked over at me with a pleading face. "Can we go together Eira? Please?"

I smiled at him, nodding my head. He pumped his fist before he raced to grab my hand and yank me along to where the supposed statue would be, with Cameron shouting directions and warnings not to hurt me as he ran. My pokemon easily caught up with me and Parker and surpassed him, heading off to another area of town while Bouncy chose to remain in my arms, laughing the whole time.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It was only a short while later that we ended up before the supposed statues that the others were bringing us to. My pokmon sat there patiently waiting while Parker and Cameron were out of breath. I was mostly dragged about, so I didn't feel it as much. I did, however, feel taken away as soon as I saw the statues that Cameron was talking about. They were large, two gigantic beasts seemed to towered over us. One of them seemed to be on four legs while the other was hunched back on two. Both seemed to be covered in armor of sorts and held proud faces on them. But some of the statue was worn, pieces looked to have possibly crumbled away or been smoothed out and gone over time.

"Wow! This is so cool!" Parker gushed over the setting of the two statues and couldn't help but look all over them as Cameron had to prevent him for getting too crazy.

While the two of them were at it, I couldn't help but feel something that was familiar. It bothered me and I dared to look behind me. My eyes widened in fear when I saw the man one more that was at the lake with me and Parker back when our journeys had just begun. He strolled beyond where I was and looked over at the statue, ignoring me.

"...So, this is Eterna's pokemon statue... Shaping our world are time and space in an intertwining spiral. Revered in Sinnoh are the pokemon of time and space... Sinnoh's myth... Its truth needs investigation..."

He was muttering to himself, totally unaware of the three of us or our pokemon before him. Like before, eventually, I came to his eye, though he didn't seemed fazed at all by me, unaware that we had met like this before. I felt sick as I looked at him, the bile fighting to race out of my throat. His eyes were just as hazy as they were before, causing me to squirm. Bouncy felt it, as did the rest of my pokemon. They were unsettled by these strange feelings that were racing through my body.

 _Why didn't he remember me? How can he only look so vacantly at me as if I was not there, or just a random person that he would pass on the street? No care in his eyes as he meant to take a step toward me and I involuntarily took one back._

I suddenly seemed to show up in his vision now. I was actually there, but still frozen in fear or shock I was unable to move. My pokemon were all quiet, unsure of what to do because of this strange man, and finally my two friends figured out something was wrong.

"Eira?" My eyes widened at hearing my name, as did the man before me. _Did he remember?_

But that single moment died instantly as his eyes grew darker and he only looked to the area before him, ignoring me once again. He stepped around me and my pokemon before Parker and Cameron came before him and blocked his way. The man blinked at them before signing.

"...Pardon me. Stand aside." The hesitant sound in his voice finally broke something in my fear and I felt my feet fly as I sped away from the area. I could hear the boys shouting back at me, but nothing I could feel more in that moment but the eyes of that man. He was watching me run, like a coward. _Did he view me as such?_

I didn't bother to find out as I blindly ran, feeling Bouncy scream in my arms and my pokemon race after me.

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Alright! Another chapter bites the dust here people as we have seen Eira coming along in more areas then one. He battles are still so dominating, so I don't think we have to worry about here there, but how about her connection to Giratina or the little girl Celeste and Rotom that she met from the haunted mansion? Who really did kill the residence sixty years ago? Who is this man that keeps terrifying Eira every time she sees him and how in hell does she know him? Any ideas?**

 **I've given out a couple of hints, but not sure if anyone knows exactly what's going on. My first hint was actually given out in the last story by Razi in his last scene, but I bet no one was really picking up too much on that!**

 **But anyway, I'm going to get to work on the next chapter and hope that I can get it done in less than a week rather than taking forever on some of this stuff like I have been… (with this story beginning, it had been slow and hard to start, but hopefully will be getting faster soon as we get to the good parts!)**

 **So now I will leave you my dear readers and head off to work some more! I love you all and see you next Saturday with an update! Don't forget to send in Questions or Reviews! The characters are getting antsy!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	10. The Team Galactic Base

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 10: The Team Galactic Base_

 **Eira's Point of View:**

Bouncy screamed as I dived down another street, no quite sure where I was blindly running toward. All I knew was that I had to get away. Just get away… just get away…

My pokemon were keeping pace fairly well with me, and the boys shortly beyond them. They were all crying out to me, but I could hardly here them as I just kept pushing to get further away from that man _… It couldn't be him, could it? He left so long ago… why would he be here? How did he turn so cold?_

"Bun! Bun bun bun!" Bouncy's cries fell close to death on my ears, if I looked at that face stricken in fear because of how I was acting, I knew it would only get worse. I refused to look at her as I cut through town, fearfully running for my life.

"EIRA!" Parker's screams hit my ears, but not before I dived into the pokemon center, rushed up to my room and frantically tried to open it. My pokemon caught up with me just as I pushed the door open and raced inside; looking for anyplace I could hide myself. The wardrobe landed in my sights and I booked toward it. I ripped the doors open before shoving myself inside and pulling them closed. Bouncy came out of my arms, but as soon as I had the space, I curled up into a ball and let my face fall into my arms. I was shaking… I couldn't get it to stop… I didn't know what to do…

"Eira?" Parker's voice rang out in the room outside of the dresser. I heard him shuffle around a bit before pulling on the doors to the furniture I was hiding inside. I could hear him pulling on them and it made me yelp in fear. I knew it was him… but I just couldn't' get that image out of my head of that man _… him…_

"Okay, just calm down Eira, I'm going to send Cam to get you some tea and I'm going to call your mother, okay? Do you want to talk to her?"

A chocked sob escaped my body. I shook my head in my arms as I tried to wrap myself into a smaller ball then I already was. I could hear Bouncy talking back to him through the door, but I wasn't paying attention.

Suddenly the door slammed open and I screamed in my arms. My sobbing echoed all around me, I could hardly hear anything else. I didn't even notice much else until I felt someone touching my arms. I screamed and the hands moved away from me. Just the feeling of dread was over come on my body just from once again having to deal with him, or was it even him? Is it just a person who looks like him?

But then again… I feel so horrible these last two times I've seen this man… it can't be anyone but _him_ … He always sends me into these fits… and they only seem to be getting worse as I see him more… I ran this time… The first time I shut down… It always reminds me of the accident from eight years ago…

I was suddenly grabbed again and I screamed, but the hands didn't leave me alone this time, they pulled on me, yanking me out of my spot. I lashed out at the body that grabbed me. My foot shot out and my fingers clawed before the body backed off.

"I told you not to touch her you idiot!" I dared to look between my arms at the two boys fighting and my pokemon protectively before me. "Eira couldn't handle it!"

"What the hell is wrong with her? Who was that guy?" Cameron was on the floor. I guess I had hit him when he got close to me. "Why'd she hit me?"

"Alright dude, we need to go get her some mint tea, so let's let her calm down and I'll take a walk with you to talk."

Cameron was helped to his feet by my best friend, who then proceeded to lead him out of the room while my pokemon stood watch over me. When they were gone and the door closed, I slowly lifted my head from where I sat. My pokemon dared to look back at me and I sobbed another time before I slowly lifted a hand to my head. It hurt, it pounded, but I didn't even notice it until now.

Why is it that man that keeps bothering me… if it's only him… can it be him? I haven't seen him in years… why all of a sudden would he be back in my life? It has to be him if I'm feeling this way… It's the only reason why my body is reacting like this… the only reason why my mind is acting like this…

It took me a good long while before I was able to pull myself just to the edge of the wardrobe that I was inside of. I hung there on the edge where my pokemon nervously watched me and patrolled the room. Magma was on guard at the entrance in case anyone decided to enter while I was disturbed and the other three hung close to me, watching me for any little sign of what to do or what could help. But there really wasn't much they could do, but I apparently could handle being touched by them. I made no response when Bouncy came back into my arms compared to the explosive reaction from Cameron grabbing me.

"Hey there Magma, I got some tea for Eira… does she seem any better?" I didn't hear or see Magma's response as my eyes were glued to the ground. The sudden smell of mint hit my nostrils and I blinked my eyes, coming a bit out of my trance. I looked up at Parker as he brought a cup of a steaming brew to me.

"Hey Eira…" He kneeled down before me and held out the cup before me. "I know you're not feeling well, and this isn't your mom's best mint tea she always makes, but I'm hoping it'll be at least somewhat helpful for you. I know it's your favorite."

I slowly held my hands out and Parker set the item in my hands slowly. Once it seemed like I had a decent grip, he let go entirely of the cup and stepped back so I could have some room to drink. It felt like an eternity passed before the liquid could even come close to my lips, but once I tasted it, my senses dulled and I almost felt a bit numb once it was in my system. It felt nice… my worries became dulled and my exploding nerves seemed to calm down at the drink and its nutrients.

"There you go Eira, feel a bit better?"

I nodded to him. I continued to drink at the tea until it was gone from the cup. I handed the cup back to him and I pulled Bouncy back into my arms. "I'm sorry…"

"Hey it's not your fault," Cameron spoke, surprising me. "I should be for not understanding how upset you were. I shouldn't have tried to drag you out of your wardrobe that you felt was protecting you. I'm sorry Eira…"

I nodded to him, but I didn't feel like moving from my spot much. My feelings were numb, but they would be there again soon enough. It took me hours, sometimes days to get over feelings like this of intense fear.

"Hey, I know what will cheer you up Eira!" Parker grinned and bounced over to me. "We found out there was a Team Galactic base here in the city and we should go take it out! Come on… I know that beating those jerks makes you smile since it's something your pokemon love to do…"

I looked back to my pokemon to see them begging me to be allowed to go to bring up from this horrible atmosphere. I looked back to Parker and Cameron who worriedly waited on my decision. After a few moments of thinking it over, I nodded to him.

"But I'll need a large mug of tea to go…"

"I'll get it! I'll meet you down there!" Parker ran off before any of us could stop him. Dust was left in his wake while his pokemon hurried after him once they noticed him gone.

Cameron patted my shoulder softly. "I'll wait with you here until you feel ready to go Eira."

I nodded to him and slowly pulled myself to my feet. Once I was on them, I looked at Cameron before I turned to take Bouncy into my arms. My three other pokemon bordered around me protectively as a guard and shield before I slowly moved out of the room, set to cheer up my pokemon, which would make me better as well.

And I was looking forward to that tea…

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

I met with Parker at the front door nearly fifteen minutes later. He had a steaming thermos of mint tea for me that he handed off as soon as he laid eyes on me. I happily took it into my hands and took a sip. The solution was still scorching, so I couldn't have much more than a taste, but it was all I needed to hold me over for a bit.

Once we got out of the building, I took hold of Parker, still slightly nervous about what happened. He happily offered me his arm so I could lean on him a bit and Cameron walked a bit behind us, watching us. I could feel his eyes on me as I walked down the street. I could feel the concern rolling off of him as I held onto my best friend for support. I'm sure it was reminding him of how I was back in Jubilife before he and I made up from our argument.

While on our way there, Parker was explaining to me what they found out about this place. Not only was it a housing spot for the evil team, but it was also where stolen pokemon were being kept and being used for labor against their will. It was a four story building, so there were a good few levels of grunts that we'd be able to battle. It made my pokemon smile to see how much they were going to be able to battle against for the second half of the day. Magma was ready for more… Gardenia's pokemon hardly gave him a challenge when we faced her in the morning.

It was hard to keep them contained as we approached the building. I could see a couple of men standing outside of it, guarding the front doors. They were dressed in black trench coats and stood stiffly until we arrived. Once they noticed us, they walked before the building and stood in our path.

"Sorry kids, but this building is off limits. Please clear out."

"Yeah, we're not moving." Parker shook his head while his three pokemon came out and grinned at the two men. "Especially not for Team Galactic."

Both men hissed under their coats before pulling off their trench coats and throwing out pokeballs, revealing who they were. Two random pokemon appeared before us, revealed to be zubat and glameow. Without a word from me, Elecky pounced forward on the flying type and frying its body. Magma threw a punch at the dark type and it crashed into the back wall.

With both the pokemon out of the way, the two men rushed off inside the building, no doubt to warn the others. I took another sip of my tea and walked after them inside, feeling my emotions finally change a bit. This was something I was familiar with, the emotions I felt when dealing with lowlifes such as this that thought they were above those that went about their daily lives. I felt like I was doing something right… the adrenaline pounding through my system was no longer due to fear, it was due to pride, excitement when my pokemon took and showed them that they were truly the strong ones, not some stupid dressed up men and women that played bully to the region.

My three main fighter pokemon burst into the lobby of the building, going after any member in site that they saw. Pokemon were dealt with and then their trainers afterward. Startled cries could be heard, but I paid them no mind as I held Bouncy and Parker in the same arm while my tea was in the other.

It was some pretty good tea…

Grunts rushed at us from all sides, throwing out many pokemon that they had apparently captured. If the pokemon fought back, they were showed no mercy by my fighters. If they were fearful and tried to run, my pokemon released them by attacking the grunts and destroying the pokeballs. The pokemon then fled, leaving beaten grunts and a few pokemon in their wake. They rushed up the stairs to the next level with only Bouncy staying in my arms.

 _Parker was right, I desperately needed this…_ I smiled, looking at my best friend before continuing to sip from my tea and continue on our way toward the top of the building. _I feel a lot better now, having my pokemon happy, having my friends with me, and a good mug of tea in my hands makes it all the better too._

I was surprised then when Bouncy jumped out of my arms and repeatedly bounced before me while calling me to come on to the next level. She wanted to try and fight too. This surprised me after she had been nearly beaten to death in the Eterna Forest. I never would have thought my pokemon would want to fight again, however, if that's what Bouncy wants to attempt, then so be it. _It wouldn't be right for me to control her and prevent her from participating in the life she desires. Not to mention, the others and I will always be right there with her should she run into trouble that might be over her head._

"We're coming Bouncy." The pokemon grinned as she hurried up to the next level and we followed after her.

Once I made it to the second level, I was surprised to see her jumping all the room out of the way of most of the pokemon around. Bouncy laughed as she annoyed them with her abilities to jump out of their reach. Her teammates cheered her on as they watched Bouncy take on a couple of the pokemon they had managed not to take out in the first five seconds they were up on the second floor.

Bouncy took her chance then to throw her body entirely into the pokemon, a zubat that was trying to catch her, which she hurled into the wall. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she was bouncing again. She laughed as she slammed into another pokemon, a bidoof. It cried out before swirling around on the floor and being slammed into the wall with the other pokemon. My team cheered for Bouncy and she dared to look back at me, and I couldn't help but smile brightly at her in my own way. She jumped into the air before landing on Elecky's back and pointed to the next floor.

With all the place cleared out, my other pokemon obeyed the newest and youngest before rushing off to the third floor. I smiled, watching them leave before walking after them with the boys.

"See?" Parker grinned as he watched my pokemon have all the fun. "Even Bouncy's getting in on the action! Your pokemon are having the best time ever, and it's even brought a smile to your face! I think your day just turned up Eira."

I giggled lightly at him. I could feel the effects of what the guys had done for me and it was incredible. I felt much better than I had only a short while ago.

"Come on you two!" Cameron had stepped ahead of us with his mothim sitting on the back of his head. Monferno was at his side bouncing happily that the mood had changed. Parker's pokemon were dancing around him in circles. Muchlax and Grotle rushed after my pokemon up on the second level while Parker's starly, which had evolved into staravia when I wasn't looking, was perched on his shoulder.

I just then realized just how many pokemon I didn't know any information about. These pokemon were grabbed when we were busy or evolved at the same time and I was unable to get their information. I pulled out my pokedex and pointed it first at Staravia.

 _Staravia, the starling pokemon and the evolved form of starly. Recognizing their own weakness, they always live in a group, although fierce scuffles break out between various flocks. When alone, a staravia cries nosily. Staravia nests are somewhat common and are found on routes, two-oh-nine, two-ten, two-twelve, two-fifteen, Lake Valor, the trophy garden behind the Pokemon Mansion on route two-twelve, and Sendoff Spring._

 _Munchlax, the big eater pokemon. It conceals food under the long fur on its body. It carts around this food stash and swallows it without chewing. In its desperation to gulp down food, it forgets about the food it has hidden under its fur. Munchlax nests are exceedingly rare, however, it is believed they hold small nests near honey trees._

 _Mothim, the moth pokemon and the evolved form of a male burmy. While it loves floral honey, it won't gather any itself. Instead, it plots to steal some from combee. There are no known mothim nests in this region._

Once I was satisfied with the information I gathered, I followed the boys up to the next level. The third level was much like the second; my pokemon easily took down all the members and their pokemon. The only thing different about this level were the cages of pokemon that were captured up here as well. I could see them all crying and calling for help. As soon as they saw my pokemon, they thrashed in their cages, begging to be let out.

Bouncy was quick to jump over to them. I knew she would feel highly connected to them all, seeing how she was a prisoner to her last trainers and beaten. She threw her body at the cage, but she could hardly dent it.

"Magma." My order was heard and the fire type of my team lumbered to where Bouncy was still trying to break the cages. She moved out of the way when Magma arrived and he ripped the bars right off of them. Once they were open, pokemon began to flee immediately while Magma went onto the next cage. The process was repeated while the other two of my powerful pokemon fought and Bouncy cheered them on.

It took only moments for the room to change entirely. It was nearly destroyed, the only things surviving was the walls, ceiling and floor. The stairs seemed to be hardly recognizable due to their condition from a grunt and his pokemon being thrown into them. My team looked back at me for only a moment to see if they could move on. I nodded my head and it was Bouncy who surprised me with taking off first. The others watched her, shocked, as she disappeared from sight.

My eyes widened and my heart suddenly pounded. "Go!"

My pokemon rushed off after her and I hurried past my friends to go after Bouncy. She was one of my pokemon, but I knew she wasn't up to the level as my other three pokemon. It made me fearful that she would suffer the same fate as she did before.

Reaching the top level, I found myself before a single woman that seemed to be of the commander status, the same as that Mars woman I met before.

"Well, well… what do we have here?" The woman looked at me with a light smile on her face. She was dressed similarly to the woman Mars, but she did not have a skirt like she did; it was more of a skin tight suit of multiple colors that this strange organization seemed to like. Her hair was violet in color, pulled back into two buns, one of the top of her head and one at the base of the back of her neck. Darker red eyes glanced at me in a humorous tone. Against her pale skin there was bright red lipstick upon her lips while she bowed to me slightly.

"And who the hell are you?" Parker huffed, crossing his arms and glaring at the woman.

"Oh aren't you sweet to ask!" The woman winked at him and Parker shivered in disgust before diving behind me. "My name is Jupiter and I'm one of the four commanders of Team Galactic. Now then…" her pose switched to that of a nasty glare as a hand slapped itself to her hip and an aggravated body stood before us. "Why on earth are you freeing all the pokemon in this building? We need those for our goal you know."

"So you have not a care in the world that these pokemon have been taken against their will and killed?" Cameron's eyes narrowed at the woman. He cared an awful lot about pokemon and people, and to see either of them mistreated rubbed him the wrong way.

Her grin could have frozen them both from the malicious intent rolling off of her. "Of course. We have no other use for them but forced labor that we cannot afford to do ourselves as humans. Besides, weak creatures like those that we have captured should submit for not being able to defend themselves." The woman looked at all of us before her eyes landed on Bouncy. "Oh! You're that shiny buneary that those boys had captured and were going to sell to us! I was wondering what happened when we found them beaten and you were nowhere to be seen."

"Keep away from Bouncy." I didn't get angry often… I didn't do it because getting angry didn't often help you in many situations, because there was often nothing you could do. Only with the power I've come with now of my pokemon have I been able to somewhat prove that phrase wrong, however, I was furious at this woman… She was hurting the pokemon of this building no differently than those boys treated Bouncy…

"Bouncy… eh?" The woman placed a hand against her cheek. "What a cute name for an adorable pokemon owned by a girl. And a shiny no less… however…" She yanked out a pokeball from her uniform. "I can't let her get away! Go Skunktank!"

I instantly covered my nose as soon as I heard the name of the pokemon we'd be facing. They often came to my mother's garden with their young and tried to eat what she had for flowers or vegetables. I saw the large pokemon that was bigger in size then my mother's pokemon Honey. It was a richer dark purple in color with some patches of tan on its snout, paws and the end of its tail that hung over its back and the top of its head. Even with my nose plugged, I could still taste the pungent smell in the air.

It's hard to forget that potent smell…

 _I pulled out my pokedex even though I had a fair idea about this pokemon before us. Skuntant, the skunk pokemon and the evolved form of stunky. It attacks by spraying a repugnant fluid from its tail, but the stench dulls after a few squirts. This pokemon's nest is rare on routes two-twenty-two and two-twenty-nine._

 _I hated this pokemon…_ I groaned as I looked at it. There were normally pokemon that trainers didn't like due to characteristics about them that just didn't match up with their own. However, there were many pokemon that some people just couldn't get past, stunky and skuntank being two of the most popular besides grimer and muk. People couldn't take the horrid smell and had no way to adapt to it, however, there were some trainers that didn't mind them and used entire teams of them to some trainer's horror.

"Bun bun!" Bouncy jumped in before I could give her an order while I was still recovering from the scent and trying to figure out a way to beat it.

"Bouncy, wait!" My pokemon didn't hear me as she bound forward and jumped down on top of the pokemon. It didn't seem to feel a thing as she jumped away. She stared at it in fright as she couldn't land a strong enough move.

"Maybe I don't want this pokemon after all, it's terribly weak." Jupiter shrugged. "I thought shines were supposed to be strong? Get rid of it Skuntank."

I watched in fear as the pokemon's arm lunged forward and connected with Bouncy's chest. She screeched as blood was drawn and she was thrown. My eyes widened and my body moved without me knowing toward my newest pokemon on my team. She was flung back into my arms and I cradled her closer as I looked at the gash on her. It covered her whole stomach and she was bleeding. The attack had actually left a mark on her… and a possibly… fatal one…

"Eira, let me take care of her. I'll get her to Nurse Joy, okay?" Cameron slowly tried to pull Bouncy out of my arms, and it took a few tries before I'd let her go. As soon as he had Bouncy, he took off. I was left with Parker and a numbing feeling before things turned red in my vision.

"Eira?" Parker tried to get my attention, but my eyes were glued to the laughing pair that was Team Galactic's commander and her pokemon.

"Oh I'm glad now that _you_ have that pokemon! I would never want one that weak!" The woman laughed, a hand near her mouth not even trying to hide the smirk. "Now which one of your pokemon are next?"

It was all red, all of us were feeding off of each other's emotions and my pokemon showed it. Their eyes lined with red as they growled and their muscles tensed as they prepared to attack.

"Eira?" Parker grew nervous as I ignored him and pushed myself forward.

"Get them." My order hung in the air, surrounded by silence for only a moment before my pokemon lunged. Jupiter screamed as Elecky actually went after her and Bubbly and Magma went after the pokemon. Elecky's teeth grabbed into Jupiter's arm and dragged her around with blood dripping from the wound while Magma and Bubbly took jabs and slashes at the pokemon. Eventually the two of them dropped, both knocked out from the pain and blood loss. Blood came shooting out of the pokemon's mouth and ended up all over the place. It couldn't get in an attack as my pokemon were too fast. Juipter wasn't doing any better with Elecky who had a solid grip on her arm and refused to let go, only bite harder in that caused her to scream out. When she threw her head back in pain, I could see marks around her neck, she had recently been in a struggle before me it appeared.

Blood coated most of the room's floor and part of the walls before I finally felt like I'd had enough. I glared at them before I looked to my pokemon and turned away from the fight.

"Leave them, we're done here." My pokemon spat at them before returning to my side and walking out of the room, Parker slowly following at my heels.

 **Parker's Point of View:**

 _Arceus… I was so stupid! I should have been more careful! When Eira realizes what she's done…_ I nervously looked to my best friend; she was deep in her own thoughts since we walked out of the Galactic building. I think that her mind finally caught up to her actions, because tears were starting to well up from them.

"I…" I offered her a hug and she flew into my arms. "Parker… I did it again!"

"You were doing it to protect Bouncy; it's not your fault. That woman took advantage of your youngest and newest member of your team, and then you wiped the floor with her." She sobbed into my shoulder while rubbed circles on her back. "Eira… you've had a lot of silent suffering throughout the years… it doesn't surprise me that your lashing out like this. I know this isn't like you and it scares you, but sometimes you need to let things out, and too often when we were little you refused to do that."

Suffering in silence since the age of five, Eira's spent most of her young live diving from heaven to hell. Her suffering made her emotions hard to control when she was younger, but eventually, she went silent and gave in. Her mother was terrified, but she was good and kept Eira safe. Mrs. Helaine always preferred it when Eira was quiet, it made things easier and to see how her daughter used to lash out, it scared the mother. In her mind, she thought that Eira had finally let go of the dwelling emotions in the bottom of her soul.

But I knew better. Eira hadn't let them go, she merely stored them up in a place that no one got to see other than me. It was rare, but I could see the hatred and pain in her eyes that refused to give in until the divine punishment that another deserved was received. Only now had she been able to release some of that anger and pent up years of suffering. But I knew there was a lot more to come, and more had been added to the pile when Bouncy was attacked. It was only the beginning. The one thing I did know… Eira and Mrs. Helaine were in for a rude awakening when that day came where Eira would unleash everything, and Mrs. Helaine would see finally what was trapped and rooting deep within her quiet daughter for all of these years…

 **Violet's Point of View:**

I sat on the top of the Galactic base in Eterna with Jezebel and Gwyn at my side. Jezebel had warned me of this girl, and now I could see what her fears of her suffering were referring to. We watched as the girl, on her order and with malice in her eyes, commanded her team to attack the commander and her pokemon. The room was left in a bloody mess with all of them nearly acting feral. The only amount of humanity in them at the moment seemed to be listening to their human trainer.

She had me worried… those pokemon obeyed her orders flawlessly. Her suffering must have come into play with the command she had over her pokemon, and it was intense and beyond much of anything I'd ever seen. Even stronger than that of Jezebel's team that she had already know for nearly ten years compared to the single year that they'd been together. Eira would have an unexplainable connection and changeling ability with them soon enough, that was impossible to ignore.

What also worried me was when she had her conversation with Jezebel over the dreams she had of Giratina: the governor of the Distorted World. Giratina was a beast like no other that I'd met, but I had read many legends upon it. Banishment from our real world, it was forced to guard that of everything that is not known or right in this world. If we ever went to that world and had it as our opponent, we would surely not survive. Giratina controlled every aspect of that world, the land, the water, the air, everything. To know of a pokemon that had that much strength… it was terrifying to say the least.

"Vi… what are we going to do?" Jezebel questioned me worriedly. It seemed she had taken the girl a bit to heart as she looked down at the sobbing girl before her best friend in the streets, horrified of what she was capable of.

"I'm going to spend my own special time with her to make an evaluation. See if you girls can pull something from her best friend, Parker Demeet I believe. I doubt the other friend, Cameron Cody, knows much. If Looker's information is correct, they only meet a couple weeks ago. Parker would be the best choice."

"What about the base?" Gwyn whined as she looked over the roof to the blood splatter. "Police weren't able to detain the woman, she got away with the help of her men, but all the blood… they're going to be taking samples if we don't figure something out…"

"Place the blame on me and tell them that I needed to get information about someone working for Rose and they gave me a lead. I'll take the penalty and pay if they want me to. Since there's no body, we might get away with that, but do your best to leave Eira Helaine out of this as long as you can. I'll gather any other information I can and try to ease my way up to her. We've been lucky thus far that our status has helped us gain allies such as yourselves, but that might go against us in the future." I sighed before unleashing Amethyst's wings out of my back. "I should be back in a couple of days, get this place taken care of and then start looking around for more clues about this gang and Rose. I have a feeling that their working together…"

"But won't they come back?" Gwyn debated.

I shook my head. "No, they got all they wanted from here. While the pokemon have been released, Cyrus completed his study of the statue here in town. It won't be long now before they show up at another location for another part of their plan." I groaned, knowing I wouldn't be able to go back to my boyfriend like I had promised him tonight. "Explain the situation to the others and let Alex know I won't be back for a day or two. I feel so bad that I can't be with him… but this girl has to come first."

"Don't worry Vi, we got it." Acey's flygon wings appeared out of Jezebel's back and Gwyn's arms turned to wings like that of her togekiss before the two of them jumped up into the air and headed off to where my group was hiding out for the time being. Another sigh escaped me before I flew to the roof of the pokemon center and waited.

Chalcedony groaned from his sleeping spot over my shoulders and under the hood of my jacket. I rubbed his head and he soothed into my touch. "Time to get up Chalce, we got stuff we gotta do. I need a nap after the scouting we did today and I need you to keep an eye out for that Eira girl and let me know if she leaves here."

My dark type I could feel nod from behind my jacket. I leaned my back up against the chimney to the building and my dark type stayed hidden in my hood while he watched over everything and I lulled to sleep.

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Oh damn! Now that chapter turned out a bit differently than I expected it to. I know because I wrote it and that crap it should be the way I wanted it, but I had like three different ideas, but this one just seemed so worth it! Also, I wasn't expecting it to be as long as it was; nearly half the amount was where I was expecting it to end. So this is nice!**

 **So, the big question like always in this story, what the hell is making Eira like this? Is she really a quiet person like she acts or is there something else deep down that's her real personality? What made her change? What happened in her past to make her suffer like she is? Is she going to get worse? Will she ever accept the other side of her? Does Giratina have anything to do with it? Oh so many questions and still twenty-three more chapters to reveal it all to you! I'm so excited for all of this and the chapters are starting to flow more smoothly! I can't wait!**

 **So like always everyone, don't forget to Review and Send in any Questions for me and the characters! We love you for them and you can see just how much they love them too! Love you all and see you next Saturday!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	11. The Wayward Trainer

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 11: The Wayward Trainer_

 **Rosalie's Point of View:**

It was a quiet journey for my brother and I as we headed out to the east to find the so called pokemon that my brother was referring to while in Eterna. Two more killers to add to my team would be more than wonderful… I've only had Gengar for the longest of time and Hypno I only retrieved in the last year.

The only other pokemon being on my team were Belossom and Porygon-Z who I killed long ago; it felt like centuries behind me after all that's happened. They were not worthy to be on my team if they couldn't easily kill others, or allow me to use their abilities. We did not connect; they wouldn't allow me to that dark place within their souls, and because of that, their bodies were lost to the sea of lava in Cinnabar Island's volcano.

Right where those sorry worthless pieces of shit should be.

I've moved on since then, my partner from the beginning, Gengar, is still there for me in all of this, just as evil, just the same temperament as me. We were perfect for each other. For years, it was just the two of us, all we had to rely on and all of our power was used to fend off Violet and her group. However… in recent years she's obtained such a powerful team of trainers to help her out, and it's become more of a hassle to deal with. I had my brother now, and his small group of pokemon dedicated to him and our cause, however, I needed more members as well. Only having two pokemon, no matter how strong, would only take you so far…

We soon arrived at the clearing where my brother had deemed the pokemon would be at, the two killers that murdered their own trainer out of lust and because of how weak he was. The last of their team, an innocent little chatot, had flown back to its family and warned them of what had happened. Many have been sent to deal with them, but these two were too powerful…

And just right for me.

 _So this is where you're hiding, killers…_ I could see them lift their heads; their eyes glowed with lust at a possible kill. _Let's see how well you handle another killer… attack Gengar!_

My partner flew out next to me and cursed them both in no time, but I could see the struggle, the desire not to give in. They pushed against it and I knew then that I wanted them.

 _You're mine!_

 **Violet's Point of View:**

"Bre!" I was woken from my frigid slumber by Chalcedony as he used psychic on me to show that the girl and her friends were leaving town. I smiled at him, petting him before handing off some food I had on hand to hold him over for a bit while I was after them.

 _I hope whatever I learn about that girl isn't too upsetting… but with the way she stands… anything could be possible…_

Wings grew from my back as I took over Amethyst's form and took to the sky, careful to stay in the clouds and be thought as a bird pokemon rather then something else as I followed the children, going south with the cycling road that they seemed to be traveling on.

 **Eira's Dream:**

 _I was honestly surprised to be here in the distorted world once more with Shadow, Celeste and Rotom. I was only here moments ago before being woken to travel to the southern city of Hearthome… so why was I here now?_

 _"You're back!" The little girl squealed before talking me in a hug. "But I thought you had to go back to your world?"_

 _"I did too…" I blinked and looked around. "Something must have happened to render me unconscious to bring me back here, even after I had been with the three of you all night. I overcame… what I dealt with yesterday… I remember getting up and heading to the cycling road… Was I hit?"_

 _"Rhu…" Shadow brought down her head to mine for me to rub. She soothed me even more then she had before during the night when I had been fretting how I nearly killed that woman. I had a good reason behind it, trying to kill Bouncy, but that didn't mean I should… It was so hard to reason anymore…_

 _"Why don't we try going to the island now?" Celeste questioned me. "You want to get the orb right?"_

 _"I suppose so… It would be better than just sulking the night away once again…"_

 _"Then come on! We can play and talk along the way!" The young girl pulled on my arm and soon we were moving forward and away from Shadow's normal spot at the bottom of the Distorted World. A new path formed before us that led us toward the blinding light that was off in the distance. It only seemed like a speck of dust shining in the light at the moment, but that mattered not. We would approach it soon enough._

 _I was surprised when in the middle of our path that there was a bit of a puzzle before us. Multiple paths seemed to appear before us. Celeste walked forward and jumped onto one of them before she screamed and fell. I raced after her only see her floating below the edge._

 _"It's a puzzle! But maybe Rotom and I should check the paths?" She wondered aloud as she looked at the five before us. "If you fall… you couldn't save yourself."_

 _"I probably won't have time to check them all before I go back, we need to decide on one and try it…" I looked at all the paths before us, nothing that each other seemed a little different and all faded from sight if you walked too far away from it. There was no way to tell which one was real or not._

 _"Can't you tell us which way to go Shadow?" I looked up to my friend while she sadly looked down at me, shaking her head._

 _"The queen can't do that…" Celeste tugged on my clothes to get my attention. "How else can you prove yourselves to her if you don't face her tests? Even if she really likes you?"_

 _I blinked at her for a few moments before looking back at Shadow._ _ **Why would she want to test me? Was that what all those years since I was a little girl was for? To see how far I could make it? I faced troubling puzzles all the time to try and make it to where I would meet her.**_

 _I contently watched her as she looked at me worriedly._ _ **I know that Shadow was weary of me before as I came to her world, however, she may have set rules before that she'd rather not break, and she might be using it to keep my mind off of things, in which case, that would actually help until I awoke.**_

 _"Okay… it's alright…"I hushed the three before me." I understand, its fine… now… which path to choose?" I looked at all the paths before me, trying to see which one would possibly make it to the other side, which was hard because they were only half apparent in the Distorted World. Until you chose a path, some areas are invisible to you and you are unable to access until you decide. It was a bit annoying after all the many years I spent just trying to remember the paths I had come down before._

 _After a while, I finally decided on one by walking toward it. I jumped from the area I used to be on and landed on the path, it stood strong and I didn't fall. The other paths vanished and the one I was on was all that was left._

 _"Yay!" Celeste and Rotom cheered from back on the main piece of land. "You figured it out! How'd you guess?"_

 _"I just guessed… that was all." I shrugged at her. I pointed ahead. "Shall we?"_

 _The little girl and her partner pokemon jumped after me while Shadow took the skies and followed us. Halfway down the path, I felt a sudden pain in my skull that forced me to bend to my knees._

 _"Miss Eira! Are you okay?" The three hovered around me, and through the throbbing pain in my head, I felt myself slipping away to reality. "No… you just got here!"_

 _I braved a smile through the pain I was in. "Don't worry… I'll be back, just like always." She nodded and I turned to Shadow who looked me over worriedly. She suddenly screeched and I felt something roll down the front of my head. I put a hand to it and pulled it back, my eyes widened at it._

 _Blood…?My vision blared out again and it was long before I fell back on the path I was on and saw the faces above me, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. They soon faded from sight and I was gone from the Distorted World and back to my own._

 **Awake:**

I groaned as the dimmer lighting seemed to come into view. I could barely make out a small fire next to me and a dark cave in all directions. I raised a hand to my eyes to help stop the pounding behind them.

"Mag!" Cries of my pokemon echoed around me and it did little to help with the throbbing pain inside my head.

"Guys stop it! You're going to make her head hurt worse!" Silence echoed through the room, only the light creaking of the wood on the fire being what I could hear. I then heard footsteps next to me before I felt someone gently tug on my arm. It felt childlike, even younger then my own. "How are you feeling?"

"My head… pounding…"

"Here, I have some medicine you can take for that." I felt the girl turn my hand over and placed some small pulls into it. Once I felt them, I quickly brought them up to my lips and swallowed them as fast as I could. While I was letting it take effect, I kept my eyes covered and listened around me.

"Where am I?"

"This is the Wayward Cave. Your pokemon brought you here after you were pushed over the Cycling Road above us."

"I… fell?"

It would explain a lot. I mean… I hardly remember anything other than getting up this morning and getting a bike… After that it was all a blur when we went to ride.

"Lux!" Elecky I could feel nuzzling my side before she and the others went to take turns telling me what happened. Apparently we had started to drive down the Cycling Road when some travelers decided to race behind us. They avoided most trainers until they got to me and my friends. Cameron and Parker they missed thankfully, but I was slammed into. The guy who hit me cried out and tried to reach for me, but it was too late.

I was sent surging forward off my bike, crushed my head into the stone guard that kept people from falling over, and then plummeted myself. Apparently Magma released himself from his pokeball just in time to grab me by bouncing off of the walls of the cliff and the support beams of the Cycling Road and slowed our fall, but I wasn't in good shape.

People were screaming above and my pokemon were trying to take care of me before a herd of angry pokemon came rushing at him and me. With no time to wait, he rushed us inside the cave to hide from wild pokemon, even if all my pokemon could have taken them on, how could they watch over me if I was out cold and hurt. I was their first priority.

Once they got inside the cave, they wandered around for a little while before they met up with this girl before them, named Mira Camilla. She had her partner kadabra use recover on me to help some of my wound, but my head would still be pounding for a while.

I dared to open my eyes then to look at the said girl that helped me. She was young then most trainers that were allowed to go out on journeys. She seemed to be only ten. I was surprised to see that she was actually out and about. Her parents must have signed those special forms to let under age kids become trainers.

She herself seemed to be pale in skin tone with dark violet eyes and maroon hair pulled back into pigtails that were shaped in loops. However, it seemed that one of them came loose and was hanging down to nearly her feet to show how long her hair was. Bright yellow scrunchies held it in place. Her clothes were nothing more than a bright white shirt and yellow short and sneakers. But she did have a small pink back pack over her shoulders.

"Are you okay?" she questioned me as I tried to open my eyes and look at her.

"I... I'm not sure..."

The girl pulled out a pokeball. "Kadabra! I need you to heal her again!" I was surprised to see the psychic type behind the little girl and it came over to me, held a hand over my head and began to heal me. The pain was subsiding slowly, but it was much better then what I felt before.

"Where... is this place?"

"The Wayward Cave? It's a maze of tunnels under the Cycling Road." The little girl sighed before looking around. "I've been stuck here for a few days now, Kadabra and I got lost... Then your pokemon and you came running in here looking for help."

"So… we're stuck here?" I slowly tried to sit up with the help of my pokemon while looking at the upset girl.

"I guess so…" She sighed. "I hope not… people are going to be looking for you since you fell, but I'm not sure how far they'll come into the cave…"

"Don't worry…" I reached on of my hands out to pat the girl's head. "I'll help you find the way out…"

The girl's eyes glittered in the fire's light. "Really?"

"Of course… help me stand up." The girl nodded and reached her arm over to me to grasp. Once I was to my feet, I held my head for a moment to steady myself, my pokemon and the little girl holding me up. I shook my head lightly before looking around and feeling a bit steadier on my feet. "Shall we?" I pointed my finger to the path before me. "Maybe we should try this way… I feel a slight breeze in that direction."

"Really?" The little girl jumped for joy before she followed right on my heels toward where I thought was the exit.

 **Parker's Point of View:**

Arceus… I was freaking out. Only a short while ago did I see my best friend get slammed into, her head smashed on the railing and then fell to her near death over the bridge _… If Magma hadn't been there… Oh Arceus… what have I done?_

Cameron and I were fretting on the side of the bridge where Eira was thrown over. The cyclist was already treated for his own wounds, but was being charged, and his time could be worse if Eira either presses charges or she's…

 _No, don't think like that, just like you're not allowed to look at the railing…_

I had to prevent myself from looking in that direction. It was thanks to Cameron that I was mostly able to. When I first looked… my best friend's blood was dripping loosely from there-

 _Stop, stop, stop!_ I couldn't control my thoughts as they wandered all over the place. With Eira gone, the police all over the place and her mother on her way, things weren't looking good for us today.

"Easy Parker, just calm down and think of what Eira will say when she gets back." Cameron was patting my shoulder, trying to keep me calm. "She's going to be so upset with you worrying over her and not the other guy-"

"But I should be worried about her!" I jumped up where I sat and Cameron pushed himself back.

"I know, I understand Parker, but wouldn't that be a typical Eira response?"

I had to think it over for a moment. Eira was rare to worry over herself, it was others that came first over anything. A comment, while it does make me frustrated beyond belief, it _would_ be something Eira would say…

"Yeah…" I sighed and Cameron grinned as he slowly made progress with me.

"Hey boys!" I lifted my head to see two figures approaching us. "You two alright?"

I was surprised even more when I was seeing two women, one of them I already knew who I'd met in Eterna Forest with Eira, Champion Jezebel Emery-Twain, and her companion I knew of too. The woman was a year or so older then Jezebel with dark blue hair with lighter highlights in it. A tattoo of the organization they worked for was on her hand. Her outfit was a pink and red dress with a white jacket over it and shorts under it. White boots (that I was shocked how they stay clean…) were on her feet and fingerless black and red gloves on her hands. It was Champion Gwyn Jalen who looked at me with her worried crystal like eyes.

"We're fine," Cameron answered for me. "But Eira… she was knocked over the edge and fell… we barely saw Magma catch her and rush her into the cave down there before pokemon rioted on the ground. They're hiding in that cavern…"

"Don't worry; our boss is in there looking for her." Jezebel smiled lightly. "Violet will find her, heal her up, and get her out as fast as she can."

"But that's the Wayward Cave down there… people get lost for years in that place…" Cameron argued lightly as he and I glanced down there again.

"But no one lost in there is much like Violet Vilmos. She knows most always where she is, a little cave with fog and her advanced abilities isn't much of a challenge for her. She's been doing this since she was your age five years ago."

"Not to get off topic too much, I really just need a distraction…" I started. "Doesn't that mean Violet could marry now if she wanted?"

"…The hell?" Jezebel's eyes widened, as well as her partner's as they looked at me. "Well… yeah, I guess. But I don't think Violet's ready for that just yet, we still have Rose to deal with. She wouldn't even think about it until Rose is gone, and then it's Alex who would propose, not her. Just cuz its tradition."

"I remember him talking about it thought…" Gwyn held a finger to her chin. "Alex has been thinking about it. Working on finding the perfect ring, but doesn't plan to propose until Rose is dealt with so Violet could have a stress free wedding, should she say yes."

"She'd madly in love with him, or course she'd say yes!" Jezebel huffed. "I mean, she's been dating him forever now and the two of them get all protective of each other… its kinda scary to be honest… but really cute too."

"Still, what in the world made you ask that question?" Gwyn crossed her arms as she looked down at me as my eyes closed as I tried to shake certain images from my head.

"I don't want to think what Eira looks like right now…" I lowered my head.

"What does that have to do with-"

"Gwyn, look." I only had one guess to figure out what she was pointing at, but it worked and Champion Gwyn Jalen shut up. I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry Parker, she'll be fine. She's a strong girl with monstrously strong pokemon, if anyone can do it, she can."

"How about a different topic then?" Gwyn suggested. "We're actually curious about some things that only you could probably tell us about Parker."

"What are you talking about?" I looked up at the two women who looked at each other worriedly before Jezebel nodded to her sister champion and the two looked back at me.

"What made Eira the way she is?"

"…Excuse me?"

"You heard me right." Gwyn crossed her arms. "Violet and the whole league have taken interest in her, for her power, for the way she handles her pokemon, the way she handles Team Galactic, and the way she acts. We're fearful for her because she may become a target in the future for Rose Agustino, or if Cyrus has his way…"

"Wait, Cyrus?" My eyes widened. "Is that what you said?"

"Yeah… why?" Jezebel questioned.

"Oh man…" I held my head in my hands. "Damn it! It was him!"

 **Eira's Point of View:**

Mira and I spent a few hours walking through the cave, trying to find some sort of land mark or opening that would show us where we were. Many times we found ourselves at crossways where paths had been marked in certain ways and my pokemon and Mira would let out a cheer. Lots of other people had been here before and left markings, each one a little different, but it started to give us ideas as we kept moving.

While we walked, Mira told me a bit about her five close friends, all much older than herself, who wandered around the region. One of them, to my surprise, was Cheryl. I told he girl how I met her friend in Eterna Forest and how the two of us saved and healed Bouncy. The other three I had yet to meet, but from what Mira had told me, they often travel all over the region, so I would likely meet the three others soon.  
"What's that over there?" Mira pointed to a small opening up ahead that we had not been to before. There was a strange ominous light glowing there that seemed to be approaching us. In the cover of darkness, I watched as the creature had red eyes that landed on the two of us. Mira squealed and jumped behind me while my pokemon took a defensive pose before me.

"Don't be alarmed by him, he won't hurt you," a voice called out. "He likes girls too much."

"Bre!" The lights and the red eyes moved before they suddenly morphed into that of a small pokemon, an umbreon, which beckoned us toward it before turning around and walking back the way it came. The smell of smoke came to my nose before I stepped toward where the pokemon had gone. I could just barely make out the markings in the darkness.

Soon we came to an opening and a small fire was in the middle of it. The small pokemon curled up next to a woman who was a good few years older than myself, a young adult. Dark chocolate hair cascaded down her head with purple highlights in it and eyes to match the darker color of her hair. Dark boots covered her lower legs and indigo shorts covered her legs. Her shirt was a maroon color with lavender polka dots and an old worn black jacket to keep her warm.

"Hello," she motioned us toward the fire. "How are you two? Hungry? Feeling alright?"

"We've been here for a while…" Mira perked up behind me. "Eira got hit on her head before she came here…"

I unconsciously touched my head, still feeling the dull pain in the back of it and a slight dizziness. I had to rely on Mira and my pokemon quite often to avoid walking into walls and random rocks.

"So you're the famous Eira Helaine I've been hearing about then." I watched as the woman rose and her umbreon jumped up onto her shoulders. "Let me see what I can do for that head of yours, I'm sure it hurts like hell."

"Worse…" I managed to mutter out. The woman nodded to me and her eyes and body changed to that of the pokemon on her shoulder. The two of them preformed the healing attack 'moonlight' on me and slowly the pain and throbbing were fading. I could feel the skin closing up from where my head had been split open and the blood fading away. It was much more powerful then Mira's kadabra's recover attack. Her abilities were incredible… they were something I'd only seen once before, when I met Jezebel Emery-Twain the other day…

"Violet Vilmos…"

"So you know who I am?" she chuckled at me. "Well I'd love to know more about you and your friend."

"I'm Mira! I helped her with my kadabra when we ran into her pokemon a while back." The little girl came out from behind me seeing the woman in the light. "We healed her the best we could…"

"And you did a wonderful job," the woman told her. "Maybe you didn't heal her entirely, but looking at how much damage that was left over; you really did a lot for her. Don't be disappointed in what you couldn't do yet, but be proud in the fact you were able to save her."

Mira smiled at the woman, her actions seemed redeemed in her eyes.

The woman turned back to me. "But now to talk about you Eira, and there's much I want to know."

I blinked at her. "What do you want to know about me?"

"There are a lot of things I want to know, things that I'm sure you'd prefer to forget…" My eyes widened at her statement as she stood from her spot on the ground. "Such as what happened to you when you were a child that made you… like this…" She gestured to me before crossing her arms. "Suffering, darkness, those and other things entirely hover around and inside of you like a disease… and I saw the damage you did at the base, I took the blame for you, but I still want to know."

She smiled at me. "I may seem like I know everything about you, but the reality of it is, I hardly know a thing."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Then what do you know then?"

She sighed and took a light step back. "I know that you're afraid of yourself. I know that you're afraid of what you can do to others because of how far it's gone sometimes. And in know that Cyrus sends you into a panic attack every time you see him."

My eyes widened in fear. "It… its him… it's really him?"

She nodded her head slowly. "I'm sorry Eira, but yes, it's him."

Before either of them could stop me, I fell to the floor, sobbing. Tears raced down my face and I didn't try to stop them. It was no panic attack this time, it was acceptance that he was the one hurting me… present day and back after the accident.

"Eira! Are you okay?" Mira was quick to jump beside me with my pokemon, holding some part of me to give me the ability to push these feelings away.

"No… I'm not…" I hiccupped. "I haven't been for years…"

"Then let's start making it better shall we?" Violet sat before me, taking my hands in her own to show she was here for me. "All of us champions and our friends have experienced some sort of suffering for a period of time. Some of us for years, some of us our whole lives. It has taken us a long time to cope with what's happened and the mistakes we've made or what we feel responsible for, but the first step was always letting out our emotions, and you my dear girl, I think, have a lot to let out." I looked up at her through the tears. "I'm not going to push you, but normally it feels better once you get that stuff off your chest."

I looked at her for a few moments longer, studying her to see if she was truthful. She seemed to be, but I was very cautious. The only ones who knew about my past were Parker and Cameron, though the latter had only heard enough to get him off my back when he started pestering me. Parker was the one who knew the whole truth and my darker feelings, helping me through it when I was little and when my mother had a hard time coping with me.

But Violet was also right, I needed to get this out, and while she may have been a stranger to me that I just met, she understood the pain I'm going through and has helped others like me through it before. She would understand best how I feel.

"Before I was five… I had an amazing life with my parents… my mother Joey and my father Cyrus. My mother adored me… my father was always teaching me new things he learned from pokemon, as he was a partner to Professor Rowan… they were both working with pokemon and evolution… I loved every moment of it… every moment I shared with the two of them… but…"

I paused for a moment and looked at the others. Mira was very curiously waiting in anticipation to hear more. Violet on the other hand seemed to be a bit more on the understanding side. She waited patiently for me to continue with a knowing face that this was going to turn dark.

"…We got into an accident… my father and I on our way home from work… we had stopped in Jubilife in order to pick up some supplies and new clothes for mother, she's a coordinator… traffic was piled up and people honking horns all over the city. It was scary… My father had a tight hold of my hand to keep me closer to him… but it mattered little… A man got impatient from waiting and raced around the stopped traffic, running right into pedestrians walking between the streets… my father and I were in the middle of the accident… though no matter how much damage he took, he never let go of my hand…

"We were brought to the hospital later… my father had the worse injuries because he was protecting me, seeing the oncoming traffic. My father ended up in a coma for nearly three months. I recovered in a month or so and my mother and I sat there, waiting for him to wake up.

"When he finally awoke, he wasn't the same... My father... he ignored my mother and I and left us shortly after he recovered. We never saw him again... until now... For some reason he seems to be following us all over the region. I've seen him twice already, more times than I've seen since I was five. And even though he's following us, he seems to be ignoring myself. Never have I been with him alone, Cameron or Parker has either one or both been with me."

"Does Parker know about your past too?" the woman questioned.

"Parker's been the only one to really know..." I felt the tears glaze over my eyes. "After my father left, my mother didn't know what to do with me. It was the only time I've been unreasonable. I would lash out... I'd scream... my mother had no idea how to calm me down... She didn't understand the pain and betrayal I felt... Parker was the only one who knew... the only one who cared..." Thinking of my best friend brought a smile to my face. "He was the one to watch out for me... and no matter what, he made sure I never felt alone..." I shook my head. "But there was only so much that he could do..."

Mira's eyes widened. "What happened?"

"My mother became fearful of me... She soon wouldn't speak to me or have much to do with me. She was afraid of the darkness inside of me that she knew my father had left when he abandoned us. I didn't want to lose her either... so I closed off most of my emotions, shut down entirely. My mother seemed to think I was easier to handle then, that somehow, I pushed it away and rid myself of it. The method saved me from losing her... but I still felt the pain... I never stopped suffering... And then... I met Shadow in my dreams... Giratina..."

Violet's eyes blinked before they narrowed in confusion and curiosity. "You know the legendary beast of the Distorted World?"

"I met her years ago, just after the accident… she came to me in my dreams… or I came to her. I'm not really sure… Jezebel probably told you about what I said to her… but I think she chose me… for what or why, I'm not sure. But we became friends in time… she shares the same feelings that I do…"

"Wow… that's a lot to take in…" Violet seemed to slowly absorb the information like a sponge. "That was more then I was expecting to know…" She looked back at me. "Thank you for sharing this with me Eira, I won't forget it. I realize you don't care for others to know about this, and I'll keep your secret safe. Now," the woman smiled, giving me a hug. "Why don't I show you guys the way out? We're right by it."

"Really?" Mira cheered as Violet put out her fire and took our hands before we were led out of the cave. The light of the day blinded me, but I wasn't deaf to miss the cries of my best friend from the miles of distance between us over my head.

I smiled. I actually felt a lot better now that I'd talked… but the feeling was short lived as a dark depression came over me, telling me that things would only get worse before getting better.

I had a lot to tell Parker and Cameron…

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Man… I felt like that chapter would never end! Not because it was super long or anything, but I just couldn't stop myself from adding little pieces here and there! But now we have it, Eira's past has come to light! Now we know what Cyrus and Joey mean to her! But will it last, or will the fragile peace be broken as she continues her journey and faces more of Team Galactic? And what the hell happened to Cyrus? Why is he doing this to his own family?**

 **Guess you'll have to find out next time!**

 **Love you all and see you next week! Don't forget to send in Questions and Reviews for the characters! They love what you give them and get more excited as the story goes on!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	12. Family Encounters

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 12: Family Encounters_

 **Razi's Point of View:**

I hadn't seen my sister this happy in a long while. Never had she been so ecstatic and full of emotion, and positive emotion at that, not even on her wedding day to Giovanni. Mass murdering the innocent members of this organization were incredible, and Cyrus would do nothing to stop it.

My sister was bathed in their blood on the moonlit night. Her newest transformation was incredible under the dark light. She was in her new form of her toxicroak, her eyes were golden in color while she had a red pack of large skin on her chest that was pumped full of poison. Her hands were formed into thick, three fingered fists with a large red claw hanging from the middle of the back side of her center knuckle. Her legs had thick muscled legs with narrow feet to help her jump around easily.

However, she still carried the charred skin and scars of burning all over her body from when we last faced the league.

My sister adored the two new pokemon she acquired for her team. They had strong wills, the toxicroak and that spirtomb. The two of them were more than happy to follow her orders since it led to more kills and fresh blood for them to feel. It easily brought them to my sister's side, and from there, a loyalty built.

Loyalty is a funny thing in our little group. Rose had her gengar for years; she was a present from her husband and my brother in law years ago. She was a gift to be able to silently take out targets once the pokemon became strong enough, and my sister was the one to make her strong. Through similar goals of wanting to take down tough opponents and reach their goals did the two of them get along so well, and Violet Vilmos gave her the first real challenge to make them as strong as she is.

Is it weird to think that if Violet had never stood up to my sister, would either of them ever have been this strong?

Hypno was a weird one on my sister's team. She had him for years before, one of Rose's first pokemon. Giovanni didn't approve of him really, but he got the work done that needed to be and added more assets for the organization. It wasn't until just before our first fall out of our organization that Rose was forced to give him up when he got too close. Rose gave… services to him when Giovanni wasn't around, and it was all it took to keep the sick psychic type around. I never judged my sister for that, she did what she thought was right for Team Rocket and she was always loyal to my brother in law, but Giovanni saw it as a threat and so he left, against my sister's pleas and wishes. When her husband was taken out of the picture, Hypno was allowed back in. It also helped when we found out how much of a challenge he was for Violet's team of pokemon and herself.

And now there were these set of two. Both of them were quickly loyal to my sister once they discovers how dark she truly was. Even with all the scars on her, the two murdering pokemon could only think of her as stupid prey as she approached them before. With one curse attack on her them, it led to a long battle in which she earned their loyalty. Toxicroak was the first of them, a silent killer who preferred the element of surprise and kept my sister on her toes in their fight. He was crafty and knew many fighting and poison type moves, even a dark one or two, which he loved to use.  
On the more offensive and showy side was Spiritomb. She was much more lively and expressive and tended be much more… vibrant if that was possible. Her attacks carried out to great distances and it wouldn't be until the enemy would fall, coated in their own blood, that she would be satisfied. She reminded me much of my sister's Gengar. Both of them were very intense with their killings, but they were always fiercely loyal to Rose. Spiritomb was loud and often irritated the others, but she never disobeyed, as long as blood and a challenge would be before her.  
 _Razi,_ my sister called out to me. _Let's go. We have much more to do before our plan will manifest._

"I'm coming." I walked over to my sister with my small team of three killers in tow. It was exciting to have more pokemon now on our side, because when we face Violet and her friends again, we would _end them_.

 **Eira's Point of View:**

After Violet helped Mira and I out of the Wayward Cave, Parker refused to let me out of his sight. He cried when he saw me, and I quickly apologized for making him worried. Parker still hugged me to him regardless, shaking in fright because he thought I was... dead. I had been down there for three days apparently trying to find the way out. He thought he would never seem me again...  
Cameron was just as excited to see me, though more laid back. He hugged me happily before questioning the girl at my side. Before either of us could get a word out, Cheryl burst through the crowd and hugged Mira and myself, stating how worried she was. Many hugs and words expressed later led to the end of the day, and our plan for the future.  
Our next stop was Hearthome, a city in the middle of the region, but mountain was in our way, and what better way to make the others get to know each other and ease Parker's worries than to train together? It seemed like a solid plan; head out in the mountains for a bit before heading out to battle the next gym leader.

After my apparently narrow escape from the clutches of death, it was a unanimous decision to travel together in order to train and also spend time with one another so that the worries would slightly ease and we could soon rejoin our travels. It was unknown how long we planned to stay in the mountain, but it would be a good while at least.

From what Cameron had told us of his experiences before there, the location we were going to was named Mt. Cornet. It was the mountain that split the region in two, effectively cutting off the west and east half. The only section not cut off by this was the far north in the snowy tundra around Snowpoint City, another stop on our journey at another given time. There were many pokemon that survived in the rough terrain, a certain type of electromagnetic properties was said to filter through the hundreds of miles of rock, attracting many types of pokemon. Magnemite, magneton and nosepass seemed to frequently filter through and it was because of this electromagnetic property that caused these pokemon to evolve, and it was _only_ in this region. Other were in the area though, fairy type pokemon called cleffa and their evolutions clefairy and clefable seemed to love the location with its clear skies that gave them access to the moon for rituals and dancing under its glow. Other than that, Cameron wasn't able to give us more information due to his and the professor's lack of time spent here due to other projects closer to home.

There was a multitude of things here that Cameron wanted to explore and study, as well as capture pokemon and possibly extend his attacking team. He was after quite a few of the pokemon that he knew of in the location… he even made a list…

And it's sad… but also true because he showed me it…

"Come on Eira!" Parker shouted a short ways ahead of me. "Let's go! I'll fine you a billion zillion if you don't hurry up!"

I smiled at my best friend while I attempted to keep up with him and the others. While he and the others tried to keep me busy, my mind still wandered to my meeting with the champion. I couldn't understand still why she was so interested in my past… my only understanding in the conversation was speaking to her about Shadow, and that conversation still fell short to me. Violet was strange to me, I couldn't understand exactly why it was that she had such a desire to want to know me, but ever since I met her, I felt like I had eyes on me since I left that cave.

I had the woman's number now, and that of all her other members as well. She said it was wise to have it on hand should anything happen that was too far out of my league or control to handle, such as my father… While I had accepted it and given her my own, I still felt at unease around such powerful people. Was I about to be thrown into the middle of their war?

I shook my head. _No, a champion like herself would be trying to keep me away from it, she wouldn't want me near others that I could hurt… should the real me ever truly come out…_

 **Violet's Point of View:**

I knew the girl, Eira, could feel that I was watching her. I watched her head slowly move around as she surveyed the landscape to find me. I could feel her tenseness even with the distance between the two of us. I looked out beyond the trees that I hid myself in while using the extreme sight of my fire type to look out at her from the distance. The girl eventually seemed to give up and follow her friends into the cave. Once they were all inside, I made a move to follow when my arm was caught.

"So I get that we're supposed to follow her and I know the past she's got with Cyrus, but should we really be following her this far?" Alex had followed behind me, we'd met up after I'd found and returned Eira to her friends. With her safely with them, I caught up with the others and informed everyone of what happened and what the girl shared with me. Once information from us all was exchanged, we scattered before our location could be found with too many of us in one place at the same time. We were scattered in our normal pairs of partners, while the two single males of my brother and Aaron along with now twelve year old Levy headed off in the last group.

"We can't just let her leave our sights for too long Alex, this girl… her potential is even higher than that of Jez's, but she's hasn't hit her breaking point yet." I shook my head while I led him to the cave entrance through the trees. "I can't leave that much raw and untrained energy on the loose when we could have a re-cap of Mossdeep Island or Goldenrod City. Not to mention… I hate seeing a girl, or anyone really, suffering so much like she is."

My boyfriend kissed my hand he held. "From the memories you showed us of your conversation, there seems to be a block there to hold back her wild side. What she values and treasures prevent her from losing control and letting go eight years of frustration. One of them has to be her mother; the woman is why this girl even quieted down in the first place so Eira wouldn't lose her. I'm willing to bet the second is Parker; he's her closest friend that she's known all her life. He has to be a trigger of some sort."

"I'm certain of it, and that's what worries me." I sighed, glanced inside the cave before I changed my form to that of my dark type, Alex did the same and we both blended into the background as we walked inside. "We need to keep an eye on her as well as Team Galactic and Rose, I have a dreading feeling that the three of them will connect together in some way shape or form in the future. Rose would easily kill her, Razi would do the same. I have no idea yet what Cyrus and his goons from Team Galactic are going to do or what part they play in this grand master scheme."

"So you think Rose is behind this?"

"I'm sure of it; there's no way she's not involved Alex. A grand sort of chaos like this? If she's not involved, then I'd be shocked."

He sighed. "Damn…" He looked back at me in an annoyed manor. "So I'm guessing we'll be here for a while."

"Yes, I'd like to have a league member always within sight of them, especially Eira." I smiled at him. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about our anniversary. Once we get out of the cave, we'll go out and celebrate while one of the others takes watch for a while."

"Or you could celebrate with me here?" I was surprised when I saw the man pull off his backpack and showed me a long shaped basket inside. "We eat and you can treat me for bringing me all the way out here to watch some kids on our fifth anniversary."

"Oh fine… I brought your gift with me anyway." I smirked at him. "But you're going to have to find it."

"Find it?" Alex raised an eyebrow while my jacket causally slid down my shoulders.

"Search me." I giggle at him before bringing his hand to my shirt and using our hands to slowly ride up on it. Alex groaned as I leaned in a stole a kiss before biting at his neck. "I think you'll like what you find."

 **Eira's Point of View:**

"Aww! I wanted the last berry…"

"Oh cheer up Mira, you can have the first one of the next batch we have."

"But the last one's the best one!"

"She's right there… that's why I took it!"

"You meanie!"

It all led to fighting from there. Mira was constantly after the last berry in the packages or daily rationings that we laid out for ourselves while inside the cave. She believed that they were the best ones since they had to wait the longest to be eaten. So her biggest competitors in getting it were Bubbly and Parker. The two of them hardly ever shared their portions, and it was only with me if they did because they worried I didn't eat enough since I usually gave my away to the others.

Cheryl and Cameron on the other hand avoided the fighting as much as possible, trying to keep to themselves here in the cave as they studied and captured new pokemon. Cheryl found Cameron's research interesting and it was something different then the fighting pair that were in the corner. Cameron had harvested some of the samples of the mountain to send back to his mentor in a specially sealed contained for future study while he watched the pokemon in the area.

Since we had met Cheryl last, she noted on how she had captured many more pokemon that have been sent home to her family to look after, but she had a couple on her to improve her team. The first, which surprised me by the rarity, was a bulbasaur. The second, which didn't surprise me as much, was a combee. The two of them were adorable and hovered close by to Cheryl, however the combee didn't like the caves much and often had to be taken to an exit nearby to gather nectar from flowers for food since it would rather have that and was picky. It was my first time seeing a combee however; I didn't even see one in Eterna Forest. It was cute and small, only a bit bigger then Cheryl head in size and it looked like it had three faces, on three little combs with wings. It was a rich golden yellow in color.

 _Combee, the tiny bee pokemon. A pokemon formed by three others. It busily carries sweet floral honey to its vespiquen. At night, combee sleep in a group of about a thousand, packed closely together in a lump. Most combee nests are hidden quite well, you will only find them scattered throughout flower fields or near trees that are slathered with honey._

Cameron had also managed to capture himself a couple new pokemon here. I was surprised when I saw he had added a cleffa to his team, the little cutie stuck around him all the time and constantly wanted his attention. She would cry if he wouldn't, so Cameron had taken to babying her a lot.

 _Cleffa, the star shape pokemon. It is often seen when shooting stars fill the night skies. It's said to arrive riding on a shooting star. They disappear with sunrise. Cleffa nests are somewhat rare and are only found within Mt. Cornet._

His other pokemon he captured here was one that was strange. It was a steel and psychic type that looked much like a gear of sorts. It was a rich blue in color and had bright topaz eyes that glowed against it. The pokemon was called bronzor and was quiet most of the time, floating around Cameron as he worked, but most of the time… he was… emotionless…

 _Bronzor, the bronze pokemon. Implements shape like it were discovered in ancient tombs. It is unknown if they are related. There are researches who believe this pokemon reflected like a mirror in the distant past. Bronzor nests are somewhat common and can be located within route two-eleven, Wayward Cave, Mr. Cornet and Turnback Cave._

I wasn't truly sure how much time had really passed. My friends and I had been down here for the longest length of time. Days and nights were unknown to us from within the mountain. Cheryl did get her taste of sun because of her pokemon, but that was about it. It might have been days… weeks… I wasn't exactly sure, but I knew one thing for sure was that we'd been here a good long while from the way we ran out of berries. When Cheryl went outside, she gathered more for us and some of the other items of interest for food while we constantly trained here in the mountain.

Of all my pokemon, Bouncy was the one who seemed to work the hardest, using her teammates and friends to help her along the way. Of course, the others made up for the strength she didn't have, but she wanted to prove herself, if not to us, then to her actual self. Bouncy was pretty upset since the day she was defeated at the hands of the weakling commander of Team Galactic, and since then, she had been working harder than any of my pokemon. She was always training. The only time she didn't was for eat and sleep, but she got tired sooner than the others, and often was fighting sleep on my lap. When I watched her sleep, it made me relax a bit more. I couldn't help but worry about her all the time as things would happen here, even among her friends and family.

We had finally decided to leave the cave after so long of training. My three stronger pokemon were tired of the landscape and Bubbly was eager to pig out on food back in the city, not that I blamed her at all. After living on herbs, berries and what other preservatives we actually made last for all this time, a real warm meal sounded lovely.

Once we were packed up, we moved from the current location we were at and moved to the south. It was a few miles hike from our camping grounds to the exit to Hearthome, but it would be worth it when we arrived. Some entrances to the sky were above us and provided some wonderful light. The pokemon that could fly were checking it out, such as Combee and Staravia. The rest of the ground dwelling pokemon ran around our feet or explored the caverns nearby and within our hearing range. They would rush off for a moment, cleaning out the area by battling all the pokemon, before rushing back out. I laughed at their antics.

"Hey, isn't there someone up ahead?" Mira pointed ahead of us and all of us looked forward to where a shadow of a man stood.

" _According to one theory, Mt. Coronet is where the Sinnoh region began. In a newly created world... A world where only time flowed and space expanded... There should have been no strife…_ "

Upon hearing the voice, I froze. The boys could tell too with that look in my eye. Parker rushed over in an attempt to comfort me, but I brushed him off and continued to walk forward, fear and rage both burning in my soul, but nothing pressed me harder than the sense of betrayal radiating off of me.

" _But what became of the world? Because the human spirit is weak and incomplete, strife has spread... This world is being ruined by it... I find this state of affairs deplorable..._ " It was only then that he appeared to me and our eyes locked when he turned away from the rocks. My father, Cyrus Helaine, stood before me.

"What are you doing here?" My eyes narrowed at him and my pokemon growled. He glanced at all of us before closing his eyes and pushing through our little crowd of people and pokemon.

"Hey! She asked you a question!" Parker snapped. His arm raced back to grab Cyrus', but the older man was quicker, moving his arm out of the way and glaring back at my best friend with power that rivaled my own.

"Pardon me…" Without another word, he took off into the darkness. I glared out at him, waiting until I couldn't hear his footsteps anymore before I sighed and fell to the ground.

"Eira!" Parker instantly was at my side and helping me up. "Are you okay?"

I shook my head, silent this time, but at least not freezing up. I looked up at him worriedly and he held out an arm for me to hold onto. Once I had my own hooked into it, he gently pulled me along.

"Alright, let's get outside and get to town and rest. Let's get you away from here. Want some mint tea? We'll get you some there."

 _Mint tea…_

I slowly nodded my head, my mind on the mint tea that I would be getting soon enough, but whatever the case, it was getting easier to deal with his presence, because a fire was coming to the surface, no longer was fear taking me over, but now it takes all of my being to prevent myself from attacking him…

Because after all, he's still my father, no matter what he's done to me…

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Alright, a short chapter, but a little filter to see the progress that Eira is now making between seeing her father and dealing with the pain of the past. Though she does have a strange love for mint tea…**

 **However, now we will be getting into more of Eira's family history and what not along with getting stronger and dealing more with Team Galactic. And hopefully we'll see more moments of her pokemon getting stronger and soon expanding its final two battle members and possibly others!**

 **So like always people! Please Review and send in Questions and let me know what you think! The characters are looking forward to hearing from all of you!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	13. Mother's Old Flame

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 13: Mother's Old Flame_

 **Violet's Point of View:**

My hair was twisted heavily by the time our activities were done. Alex had his way with me as many times as he desired, and I had let him. It was more than worth it since I got enjoyment out of it as well besides him, and no one could hear us within the mountains.

I sat by the small watering hole as I finished with my cold bath. I was shivering slightly as I grabbed a towel to dry myself. Before I could swing it around myself, I felt a set of warm arms grab me from behind. The smoothness of skin on skin was soothing and relaxing to me, nearly causing me to melt back into his arms. I felt the beads of water roll off of him and down my side, causing me to squeal lightly.

"Do we have to leave just yet Vi? I was hoping for another round…"

I swatted his arm. "Yes we do, we need to get back to work, not to mention, Eira and her friends have left, and I'm still surprised with how she handled Cyrus when he visited her a couple weeks ago." I shook my head. "Now get dressed, we should meet up with the others before they get too far away. If it wasn't for you, we _would_ have left earlier…"

"Vi, I'm sure she'll be fine. Besides, while we take our time getting ready, we can have one of the others check in with her. Maybe Vince? I know he's excited to see a girl that could be as powerful as us but act the entire opposite."

I sighed. "I suppose… I'm sure Aria and Casey will be there as well, if they're heading to Hearthome, Aria will want to write up some articles for the _Sootopolis Monograph_ Sinnoh branch, the _Canalave Press_."

"I'll let him know then, and then I guess we'll have to get going…" He pouted at me as he handed me my clothes. "You're making this up to me later, you know."

"Oh I know alright." I suddenly turned and the man I knew as my boyfriend had to fight a groan as my towel fell to the ground. "Fine, you want Vince and Aria to watch them? Okay then, call them and we can play hookie a bit longer. But damn it Alex, we need to get going soon, got it?"

The man didn't give me an answer, a possessive grow came from his throat as his hands were all over my body once more. His hands and mouth reached everywhere and I knew I was powerless to stop it. I held onto him for support before he lowered me to the ground, our antics starting up once more.

 **Eira's Point of View:**

The warm sun felt amazing on my skin as we left the cave. It seemed to be early in the morning when we exited the mountains. There was a short path in between the woods that seemed to lead to the city. We followed it between the trees before we were led to the entrance of the city from the west side.

"Wow…" I gasped as I looked around the city.

It was a beautiful sight before us. Yes, it was a city and that made me a bit nervous, however, the sight was also beautiful with the flowers that were planted and scattered along with bright green grass and many park areas where people and pokemon seemed to be playing together. There were still some cars, it was a busy city, but in comparison to Jubilife, it was much better.

That didn't mean I still didn't reach for Parker's arm as we approached the city.

"Don't worry Eira," Parker grinned at me. "I got you."

I nodded to him and hung closer while my pokemon provided another protective barrier around my body, keeping the people around us away from me. I saw a lot fewer people come close to us, which was nice as we walked through the town.

It didn't take us long to travel the beautiful stone walkways that led to the pokemon center in the middle of the town. Once we arrived inside and I saw a considerable less amount of people, I was able to relax and Parker visibly relaxed as well while I let go of his arm. Bouncy jumped from my free arm and landed on Elecky's back and they looked around the location.

"I hate to be so sudden to the three of you, but Mira and I should get going." Cheryl looked at me apologetically. "Our friends Riley and Buck are waiting for us at another entrance to the city; we shouldn't keep them waiting long…"

"Don't worry about it Cheryl." Cameron patted her shoulder. "I'm sure we'll see each other again soon, and we have you and Mira's numbers, we'll be fine and call as often as we can."

"Thank you Cameron." She nodded to him before looking at me. "I hope we will see you again soon Eira."

I smiled at her. "I hope so too…" The older woman rushed forward to hug me, Mira coming in closer behind her. I held the two of them with every fiber of my being before I felt them sadly pull away from me and wave before heading to the door. I was sad to see them go, but they had their own journey that was different from our own, and with trainers all ranging between the age of ten and twenty-three, they had a lot of things to worry about and work on.

Once the two of them were gone, my team turned to me; Bubbly especially who was hungry already and in need of a real meal. I nodded to her and she cheered with the others while the boys sighed.

"And here we go, all our trainer money down the drain for the glutton…" Cameron groaned.

Bubbly hit him hard for that one…

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It was once our meals had settled in our stomachs that we decided that we wanted to rest a bit from all the training. I allowed my pokemon to wrestle with each other after being healed. Even Bouncy joined in, but the others knew to go easier on her from how much more time and training she needed to reach their level.

"My Arceus!" I turned my head and the familiar voice as my mother appeared inside the center with someone else behind her and Honey at her feet. "Eira!"

"Mother…" I rose from my seat just as the woman rushed into my arms and held me tightly to herself. I felt herself cry a bit into my shoulder as she pulled back to see my smiling face and couldn't help herself from crying harder.

"My baby… oh my baby… you look so happy…" She crushed me to her. "I'm so happy to see you like this!"

I allowed my arms to wrap around her a second time. It wasn't long before I saw Parker get up from his seat and pat my mother's shoulder. She looked up at him while he grinned.

"Hey Mrs. Helaine! How are you doing? What are you doing in Hearthome?" His questions flew out of his mouth like they always did and my mother smiled at the reunion as she looked at both of us.

"Oh I've been fine Parker, but the house has been even more quite since you and Eira left… I've been staying here in Hearthome for a few weeks now to keep myself busy and work in the contest hall. They've hired me as judge now, since most of my coordinating years are behind me." My mother looked back to the two of us. "Are either of you planning on trying out?"

Parker shook his head. "Nah… me and Cam most definitely not, I'm not sure about Eira thought. It's her choice, and we're here for the gym anyway."

The others then turned their attention to me and I merely shrugged. I knew my mother was heavily into contests, I had gone to a few when I was much younger and she still competed before becoming a winner of the Grand Festival and was set for life and many other opportunities available to her.

"I'm not sure… most of my team are heavy battlers, and that would be fine if I made it to the battle portion… but I don't think they would be interested in appeals…"

"Oh that's right! I've been meaning to meet your team now for a while!" My mother smiled at me. "Can you introduce me honey?"

"Of course…" I looked over at my four pokemon and it didn't take them long to hurry over to my side. My mother gasped when she saw the four of them and their different sizes and shapes, but she nodded to me when she noticed what I had told her, they were battlers, not dancers or anything of the sort for contest. "You already know Bubbly… she evolved during my first gym battle into a prinplup. She learned some steel type moves and still is as hungry as ever… we found out she has a fast metabolism, even by a pokemon's standards, which is why she always is eating so much…"

"You know, that does make a lot of sense now." My mother patted Bubbly's head. "I hope you still make sure my daughter eats, don't you now Bubbly?"

My pokemon nodded heavily before Elecky pushed her way through with Bouncy on her back. The two of them smiled at her before Bouncy jumped up into her arms and Elecky purred and rubbed her body against my mother's legs.

"In your arms is Bouncy… she's my shiny buneary… she was being attacked and hurt by thugs… I took her in and healed her wounds with my friends help… And at your feet is Elecky my luxio… I met her in the out skits of Jubilife… she was helping me after I got into an argument with Cameron…"

"Cameron?" My mother questioned and my other friend raised his hand as he approached my mother.

"It was my mistake to do that ma'am. I didn't understand the situation and was taking it out on Bubbly, and that upset Eira." Cameron looked at me as we both saw the memories of what happened in each other's eyes. "I've learned my mistake now and I don't plan on intently hurting your daughter again, or non intently"

My mother watched him for a good moment before she nodded to him and turned back to me. "And what about that one?" My mother pointed to Magma.

"Magma… my magmar… I met him in Floaroma." I neglected to tell my mother about us having to face Team Galactic and my father because I knew it would do nothing but worry the woman. So I decided instead to then skip over it entirely and move onto another subject. "That's all my team…"

"Oh their wonderful Eira! I'm so happy for you to have such a great team that cares about you. That's more then I could have asked for." My mother smiled at me. "Now, why don't we go to lunch? I'll pay, even for the glutton."

I could only hear my water pokemon gasp before she flung herself at my mother, thanking her with the watery tears in her eyes like she normally did. I shook my head before I followed them over to where a wonderful restaurant was attached to the building and it was there that my mothered ordered lots of food for all of us.

I knew Bubbly would like that… and I got my mint tea…

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It wasn't until after the meal (and my mother and Bubbly fighting over her getting more food since what she got was never enough to fill her stomach) my mother decided to show us over to the contest hall. She wanted to show us what contestants and judges did all the time. Mother took us over there, talking endlessly about the history and amendments to the city that they'd made within the last so many year, but my mind was focus on one thing, the ground. I was stiffly grabbing onto Parker as he led me through town. He knew how upset I was by the growing number of people that seemed to be centered around this place. My mother knew of how much I detested crowds and my claustrophobia, but she tended to forget sometimes.

"And here is the actual hall-oh Arceus… what in the world would cause them to be here?"

I dared to look up from where my eyes watched the grooves between the bricks. From there I saw that there were three figures before us. The first two I saw was Aria and Casey since the last time I'd seen them in the Eterna Forest. The third one with them I recognized as Violet's older twin brother, Vincent Vilmos, who seemed to be favoring the same hat from his early childhood as a trainer. A black sleevless shirt with a red jacket over it and jeans covered his body while sneakers were on his feet. The three of them were talking before Aria shifted her eyes to us.

"Eira! Over here!" She waved us over before she pointed to the eldest member among them. "This is Vince Vilmos, you didn't get to meet him last time when we saw you."

"Nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you and your team, and your friends." Vince held out his hand to me, shaking it once my hand was in his own.

"Yes… nice to meet you too…" The area seemed a bit easier to deal with once I knew more of the people around me. Of course, large crowds bother me in general, but it's even worse when its people you don't know.

"Wait, my baby knows you all?" My mother squealed. "Oh I'm so happy to know my baby girl is going to be okay!"

"Don't worry Ma'am, she'll be fine." Vince shook the hand of my mother's gently. "We're scattered about through the region, so one of us is normally in the area. We're trying to keep our eyes out on everyone and everything. While I admit we can't be everywhere at once, our numbers grow by the year. We're now up to eleven members that are scattered in the region, and I believe that we'll be adding more to that eventually too. It depends on what my sister finds in this region."

"Well I hope it's not my Eira. That would put too much stress on her." My mother shook her head. "But still, I hope you find more members for your organization."

"Thank you." Vince turned to look at me with a weird look. I shook my head to show I hadn't told her about some of the things I'd done with her not at my side. Vince slowly nodded before we turned back to my mother.

"Why don't we go inside then? I'm sure we'd love a tour." Aria smiled at my mother. "I need to know where everything is in here since I'm taking a few days to write a few others articles and Casey's going to help me with taking pictures while Vince keeps an eye on the area."

"I'd be happy to show you!" My mother grinned. "I've been coming here for most of my life!"

While my mother went crazy with show Aria and some of the others all the locations within the building, I was surprised when Vince stayed behind me with and offered an arm for me to latch onto. I smiled and took it. He seemed to understand me a bit; probably from what the others had told him about my nervous nature and how I was bothered by crowds… though I'm not sure if the members of the league actually knew about that one…

"I hope I didn't startle you at all." Vince slowly led me down the same pathway my mother took the others down.

"No… not at all… though I appreciate that you didn't reveal some of my extra activities to my mother…"

"I'm guessing you're not planning to tell her?"

"No… it would scare her and she'd take me away from my adventure…" I looked up at him nervously. "I'm assuming that Violet told you everything about me…?"

"Yeah… she told us what she could of course, but don't worry; only those that needed to know." He winked at me. "Which means it's only the league. I know that might seem like a lot, but it's not like we plan to go public, we're careful with the information we hold, and Aria, while she does put out many information articles about ourselves and some others, would never reveal anyone's secrets without being allowed first."

I nodded. I was more than thankful for that. "By the way… why is it that Violet isn't here? I was almost certain that she would be watching me herself…"

"Violet has other tasks she has to deal with… not to mention… Alex can get quite possessive of her when he wants to." Vince snorted at his own comment. "It was actually their fifth year anniversary while you guys were in the mountain range; she and Alex were watching you guys from a distance." He suddenly shivered. "I don't even want to think about what they did when they weren't watching you…"

"I assume it was something… personal?" A small giggle escaped me as I watched the older of the twins squirm.

"Don't remind me…" Vince gagged a bit before he turned to look up at the group before us. Cameron seemed to be talking with Parker and for some reason, he caught Vince's eye. "Who is that guy in the red hat?"

"Cameron Cody, Professor Rowan's assistant in completing the Sinnoh pokedex and his research on pokemon evolution. He's quite bright and always eager to find and capture pokemon for study on evolution. When we were in the Eterna Forest, he captured what seemed to be nearly ten different types of pokemon and was already training some of them to try and evolve. He also evolved one of his pokemon, and eevee, into a leafeon with a special item called a moss stone, which is located inside the Eterna Forest." I paused for a moment to think. "I think he may have taken a sample for the professor since on their last journey they were unable to do so. He did the same thing over in Mt. Cornet with the charged rocks in the mountain and he captured more pokemon that he even put on his active team."

"Interesting…" Vince's eyes hovered over the younger boy for a good moment, and it was just long enough and in a certain way that made me think that there was some sort of form of attraction from this older man to the young one that was my companion.

But could that be true? It's never been publicly declared about any of the member's sexuality preference, but it was mostly to be assumed that they were straight due to the four couples of Violet and Alex, Gwyn and Tristan, Jezebel and Mattie, and Aria and Casey. While Vince, Aaron and Levy were not part of any relationship, it was unknown where their feelings lied, but like I had mentioned before, they were considered straight. Fan girls threw themselves at the leagues feet, when they ever saw them that was…

"Is something wrong Vince?" I asked. The older male looked at me before he shook his head.

"It's nothing you need to worry about."

I giggled lightly at him. "It's not a terrible thing to say you're attracted to him…"

He sighed. "I know that. I'm still just trying to figure this out… I only discovered it when my sister was teasing me… and now she's crazy to find me someone…"

"…At least she was trying to help…"

His chest deflated as he looked up ahead. "Besides, I bet the kid's straight, and he's five years younger than me."

I shrugged. "You never know… until you try…"

He looked at me surprised. "I hope you don't mean to ask him right now how he feels and take him out when he's a minor. I'm a legal adult, I could be charged for that."

I kept laughing as the conversation went on, it was funny talking to this man who I just met, and he was like Violet in a way, but that made things more fun. I was still hesitant about them a bit, but for the most part, I liked them, and they genuinely seemed like they wanted to help.

Parker instantly was picking up on my laughter. He turned to see the two of us and smile back at me, but it seemed a bit pained. I could tell by the way the brightness wasn't in his smile like it normally was. He was happy that I was happy, but he wasn't very happy with who I was with. Parker was protective of me; it was only him and I as we grew up for many years. He was the world to me, and he hardly liked sharing.

But before this journey, I was okay with that. He was all I needed. Now I craved a bit of learning of new people, talking with them, discovering things about them that I didn't know.

"Oh Eira baby! Come over here!" My mother called out and Vince led me up to the front of the group where she was. "Look here, this was me when I was a bit older then you!"

My mother pointed to a picture of herself and Honey when they seemed to be much younger and before my mother's pokemon had evolved. Honey was still in the form of a glameow and strutting around like she owned everything. My mother had longer hair back then, much like mine but a brighter color. She seemed to be wearing an older style pink dress.

"Oh I wish you had someone who wouldn't mind trying contests Eira." My mother pouted at my team. "It was so much fun and I know they'd have a good time, and you as well. You used to watch me all the time when I competed and so did…"

My mother trailed off then and my mind recognized when she had meant, my father, Cyrus Helaine. He once upon a time went to the contests and watched my mother while taking care of me. He loved the way my mother showed everything and put her soul into her contests. If I remember correctly, Mother had once mentioned that was how the two of them had met…

"I know Mother…" I reached out and took her hand. She squeezed it for a moment before she sighed and turned back to Aria.

"Well, that's about all that you probably need to know, but if you have any more questions Aria, let me know." My mother smiled. "We should be having a contest later today, I wish I could see one of you perform, but then my judging would probably be biased…"

"Sorry Mrs. Helaine… just not really interested in it for ourselves, you know?" Parker shrunk a bit as he looked at my mother. She simply just sighed, disappointed.

"It's not your fault Parker, if you're not into it; it's not your fault. Not everyone likes showing off their pokemon." My mother kissed my forehead before she waved to us. "Well, I need to get going to get ready for this contest; I'll see you kids later! Bye Eira!"

My mother left then and once she was out of sight with her pokemon, everyone turned back together as a group.

"Wow, she had a lot to say and show, she was one of the more expressive in her field." Aria was taking down notes on a note pad of hers as she talked to us. "And here I thought I'd seen crazier people then her…"

"My mother has her moments…" I shrugged at them all. My mother was a bit over the top, it came with the strangeness of what happened with my father when he left. We both changed a lot since then. If my father had never left… would we have changed like we did? Mother became more over the top and I secluded myself…

"Didn't you say you wanted to try a contest before Eira?" Parker questioned me once my mother was gone. "I was waiting for her to go so you could answer the way you wanted and not to please her. Because you and I both know that you would. You always loved them when you were little."

"They do intrigue me… but Mother was always so much over the top about it that I lost part of that interest…"

"Well, she thinks that none of us are going to perform, maybe you should give it a shot? You can wear what you want and see if one of your team might be interested in the appeal section."

"That's the thing… only Bouncy might… the others prefer to battle…"

"Bun!" Bouncy was up in my arms in an instant. "Bun bun!"

"Bouncy… you want to try at the appeals?"

"Oh she'd be great!" Aria was at our sides instantly. "I've worked with many coordinators before, mostly Jez and Mattie, but anyway, your little pokemon here is so adorable! She would catch the eye of so many people and they would fall for her! It also helps that she's a shiny! But she would still need an appeal… what kind of moves does she know?"

"Um…" I'd never really worked with Bouncy before in battles, so I didn't know much other than her kicking and throwing around her body weight… "Jump kick… pound…"

Aria sighed. "That's not going to help her in the appeal round."

Casey placed a hand on her shoulder. "Bunearys are known to be cute, but are pretty tough with physical attacks with being normal types. However, since they are a normal type, they can normally learn many different type moves. I've been researching all they can learn and its pretty amazing, such as water pulse, ice beam, solarbeam, thunderbolt, shadow ball and dig… and that's just a few, but I'm sure you could easily use any of those attacks and teach them before making them into an appeal that would fit her character more."

My brain started to click a bit in the way my mother's did when she was thinking of appeals. I used to help her when I was younger, and I may have been out of practice since we haven't gone to one in years, but that doesn't mean I couldn't whip something together.

"I think we can do something with that…" I smiled as my brain started to think. I turned to my pokemon. "Let's go find a place to practice."

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

After spending a couple hours with my pokemon (and sending Parker off ahead to sign me up for the contest) we managed to teach Bouncy a good few moves to not only help her in contests, but also in battle as she continues to try and get stronger. She learned most of the moves that Casey had been talking about, and with him and Cameron teaching us as many thing as possible, we were able to come up with an appeal that would hopefully impress the judges.

While Parker was off and running all over the city, he bought me a simple outfit that he knew I would like. He bought me a grey long sleeved shirt that was similarly matched to my eyes along with a midnight blue skirt that came down to my feet. There was a slit in the side so my legs had more room to move and he got me a pair of leather boots to go with the clothes. The others thought I looked amazing, especially with my hair down and without my hat. I apparently looked even more mature than normal to them. I loved the simple yet older looking clothes that were draped over me. Contests interested me, but I wasn't obsessed to be over the top like my mother was.

I wasn't flashy like her; I wasn't excited or overly expressive. Sure I showed emotion when I felt like it, but I was much calmer… much like my father had been… before… he left… I resembled him in almost every way other then my looks, which streamed mostly from my mother…

What an odd match to get for a child…

Once I was dressed and ready, I was down in the booth where contestants were to wait to be called for appeals. Most of the people around me seemed to be snobs of the sort or were fast on their way to becoming of the sort. Innocent new people and a few honest coordinators seemed to be scattered in the bunch, but other than that, it seemed particularly… unsettling…

I wish I had someone I knew here with me…

"Eira!" I whipped my head around to see Parker rushing toward me. A grin was on his face while a visitor's pass around his neck. "Hey, sorry it took me so long to get down here, had to have Aria and Casey help me pull some strings to get in to see you, even though I wasn't a contestant. How you feeling?"

I felt warm with him there then, and it brought a smile to my face. "Better… it's weird here…"

"Don't worry about that Eira, you got your entire team to keep you safe. The rest of us will be in the stands if anything happens and your mother is a judge, and I think we got away with her not knowing anything, she's still looking down out there."

Parker pointed to the screen where the judges and the MC were making their introductions. I saw there were five of them all together.

" _Welcome to today's contest in Hearthome City! We have an amazing batch of coordinators today that are waiting backstage to show off themselves in this contest and earn themselves another ribbon to grant them entry to the Grand Festival! I'm your MC Lori C. Porter and let me introduce you to our four judges this find day! The first of them is our esteemed coordinator who has been with us for many years since he made his début as a boy! By fifteen he won the fifth Grand Festival and has been a judge for nearly forty years after that. Please let me introduce Dexter Pandora!_ "

An elderly man in his sixties or a bit older adjusted the glasses on his head while he wore an expensive looking white suit with a rose in its pocket. " _Ah, another contest to enjoy and see new uprising coordinators. We don't have much longer before we'll be getting ready for the Grand Festival with it being the fall and all. I hope all of your perform well and within two months time, we shall prepare for the Grand Festival._ "

The crowd cheered for him while the MC smirked about. " _He's right folks, it won't be long now. If you don't have your ribbons, you better get them quick! So now for our second judge of the night, we have our own towns Nurse Joy!_ "

The woman looked around the crowd with a happy smile like she normally wore on her face with her treasured partner Chansey at her side, like all the nurses did. " _It's so wonderful to be out here again to see more amazing pokemon and trainers. I've looked over all these pokemon before the event and they look beyond amazing. I'm excited to see their appeals and battles._ "

" _Well said!_ " Lori jumped to the next person who seemed nearly as outlandish as my mother in her youth. " _Our next judge is the famous gym leader of this very town and a contest coordinator herself and a winner of the thirty-fifth Grand Festival. She still loves to show new coordinators the ropes when she's not trying to defend her title at the gym! Here's Fantina Sumner!_ "

The woman who I saw in the video then was dressed in a vibrant dress of a lighter mid-tone purple color with a thin, net like lining over the edge of it that contained sparkles on it to add some more color and shine to her. Her hair was a richer purple in color which was pulled back into four equally sized buns on the back of her head. Small bangs hung in her face before her dark ebony eyes.

" _It's wonderful to be here once more to see the contestants and have a break from the endless trainers that I face_." The woman giggled light behind her hand. " _It's soothing to see the appeals and remind me of my older days, I'm excited to see what our performers have to show. I'm always looking for new combinations that these new coordinators dare to try._ "

" _I'm right there with you Fantina!_ " Lori grinned before pointing to the last person on the bench, my mother. " _And our last judge of the day is the newly present judge coming out of her retirement. She won the thirty-seventh Grand Festival, shortly after Fantina, traveling here all the way from Twinleaf, here's Joey Helaine!_ "

My mother raised her head and crossed her hands then as she looked out to the crowd. She smiled at all of them, but I could see it didn't reach her eyes, but her attitude and personality she put out would only make those that knew her well know that. " _You have no idea how happy it makes me to be back here in the very halls that I used to compete in a short time ago myself. I miss those days, but now I'm here to help other coordinators complete their dreams and come to the same level as the rest of us and soon compete in the Super Grand Festival, which will take place once the forty-fifth Grand Festival winner is decided. I look forward to compete again, as I'm sure my predeceasing Grand Festival winners would agree. But I'm getting ahead of myself; we still have this contest and many more to get through before we participate in that. I look forward to seeing you all today and what you've brought for us._ "

" _Thank you for informing them of the Super Grand Festival for me, but now let's get started!_ " Lori grinned as she pointed to the entrance to the back area where we all waited to be called. " _So come on out Carrie Aster!_ "

I watched as a girl rushed out and headed toward the stage before I turned back to Parker who had a puzzled look on his face. It was an unusual look for him and I tilted my head in confusion at him. It only took him a few moments to catch on, but soon enough he saw me worriedly looking at him at his side.

He sighed and shook his head. "Don't worry Eira, I'm fine, just thinking about the gym leader. I've heard she uses ghost pokemon, and I never would have through that she'd be involved in contests. It would have been a great place to see what she has and what she was capable of."

I nodded slowly to him before his normal cheery smile came back. "Don't worry, maybe if we're lucky we'll see something during the break between battles. But anyway, I'll stay with you here until it's your turn. I got permission, sound cool?"

I nodded to him and smiled. "I'm glad you're here…"

He threw an arm over my shoulders. "Hey, I'm not going anywhere, so let's get comfy over here and watch what these guys can do."

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It was a long while later before we ever got to the point where the other contestants had made their way through. Bouncy was a bit nervous as she waited with me outside her pokeball, only to be returned when it was nearly our turn. I nervously sighed as I looked at the contestant that went before me. The trainer had used a fighting type pokemon and showed off its strength and in a twisted way, it seemed to work for them, possibly putting them through the next round, but only eight would make it out of the forty that were in today.

I was waiting at the entrance of the other room, hiding close to the wall so my mother wouldn't see me as she watched the second to last appeal. Her eyes sparkled as she watched the performance, but they weren't strong like they normally were. She was distracted by the fact that none of us had openly agreed to try contests before. I felt bad for deceiving her, but I knew in the end she would be overjoyed, no matter the outcome.

"Thank you so much Justin! Let's give him one more round of applause!" The crowd did as Lori asked while she waved him off the stage. I saw the guy pass by me, giving me a warm smile and seeing how nervous I was, before walking off. I sighed and tried to calm my heart beat, a heart attack was entirely possible as I headed out on stage. "And now we are down to the fortieth contestant today! And surprise, surprise, this person I believe is related to one of our judges!" I saw the judges looking between one another before all their eyes filtered to my mother. Her eyes went wide as she watched the entrance of the appeal area, as if she was dreaming and couldn't tell if she truly was awake. "So let's introduce our last coordinator of the evening! Making her first performance of all time, welcome Eira Helaine to the stage!"

My mother gasped as I stepped out then in my new clothes that Parker had been kind enough to get for me. Her eyes welled with tears as I approached the stage before everyone. I pulled out the pokeball of my choosing and threw it out to the air.

"Bouncy, let's go." From her pokeball came her shiny form and sparkles to match upon her release. She happily cheered and bounced around for others to coo and cheer at.

"My goodness!" Lori's jaw dropped when Bouncy appeared on the stage. "It's been a long time since we've seen a shiny pokemon here at a contest! Who knew Miss Helaine had one?"

I smiled before I looked at my pokemon. Bouncy was dancing around while waiting for a command, and everyone seemed to love her cuteness and her little dance on her delicate feet. "Water pulse."

"Bun!" Bouncy turned back to me before a glowing ball of water appeared before her and she sent it flying at the ground. Bouncy controlled the water so that when she let it go, it shot strait upwards instead of spreading around.

"Ice beam." Before the water could move from its highest peak, Bouncy shot an ice beam at the base which froze all the water before it could move, however, it wasn't entirely frozen and gave some movement, air bubbles, color difference and texture by the insides being still liquefied.

"Incredible precision for a first timer of the stage." Dexter noted as he watched me intently. "Though I'm curious as to why the ice towers aren't fully frozen…"

I smiled, thinking ahead to the hard part of my performance which I prayed that we would have down. I looked for a moment to my mother who was sobbing in her seat as she watched me for the first time. I'd have to thank my friends heavily for the help they gave me, especially Casey and Cameron.

"Shock wave." Bouncy nodded and landed before all of the thinly iced towers. Once in the middle, she crafted a bright ball of electricity that she held before herself before she used the ice's slipperiness to her advantage and began to spin. It took a long while to get this precision right, but for the most part we had it down. Bouncy spun on the tips of her toes, using a leg every now and then to swing and bring up some more momentum. As she spun, the crowd began to gawk at the towers of ice and the field that would begin to glow if the ball of electricity got closer to it. Bouncy let the electric ball slowly pull away from her and the glowing in the ice seemed to intensify. Even the judges were stunned, which is what we were hoping for.

Bouncy continued to spin, getting faster and faster as she kept moving. The crowd was at her beck and call while the electricity nearly touched the towers of ice and they all glowed up brightly, even when the attack wasn't near it anymore.

"Sunny day." Bouncy let loose of the electrical attack, forcing it to fade away before creating a ball of light and throwing it up into the air. It quickly melted the ice towers and they turned back to water in mere seconds from the intense heat. "Grass knot."

Using the water and dirt that was the stage before us (because it also doubled as a battle arena) Bouncy pushed her attack hard into the ground before grass shot up from the ground below and knotted together in a thickly gorgeous display with flowers sneaking up through them. I bent over to pick up a flower and held it close to my nose while Bouncy put one on her head before bowing to the crowd.

I was shocked next when everyone jumped from their seats and began to applaud in a rapid motion. The judges also stood to clap for me and I shrunk back at bit as I looked at them shyly. My mother shot out from her judging desk and hurried over to me, bringing me into a hug.

"That was beautiful… I didn't think you were going to perform!"

"I just didn't want you to know in case I did poorly, I didn't want to get your hopes up…" I looked at my mother in her eyes and she looked at me curiously. "I'm not entirely like you mother, and yes I do like contests, love them even… but I don't want to be over the top… I just want to be me…"

"And that's fine baby, you've more than proved your point." She pulled me close again. "I loved that performance, reminds me of the time when you were a kid and that storm hit in Snowpoint where…"

"…Father was doing research?" Tears brimmed at both of our eyes at the mention of him. "I know… that's why I chose it… I loved that memory…"

My mother could only smile at me before she headed back to where her seat was at the judges table. She clapped with the others before Lori gestured that I could walk back stage then.

"Well done Eira and Boucny! And that's the last of the performances today folks! Our four judges and myself will deliberate to see which final eight will make it on to the next round, so fingers crossed and good luck!"

I hurried back underground with Bouncy in my arms. Once I made it below, Parker was waiting for me like the grinning idiot he was. I rushed right towards him and he held me closer to him when I ran into his arms, proud of my pokemon, myself, and what we had accomplished.

"Nice Eira! Now we just gotta wait for the five of them to decide, and once you're through to the battle portion, you'll be a shoe win!"

"I hope so… this is fun…" I looked around him to see the thermos in his hands and looked questioningly at him. He simply handed me the item and my eyes lit up.

He knew me so well…

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It was a good half hour later before we got our results. Fantina had given what she had through was her best appeals, and the judges quickly agreed, though to give everyone a good long break from performing, Fantina preformed for us with her ghost types. I was surprised at the dark and light performances she did with her prized pokemon Mismagius. The pokemon was incredible to look at, spooky, but cute all at the same time. Everyone loved watching her perform, but soon enough, they became antsy for the results.

" _Alright everyone! We now have the results of our judges choosing for the battle round!_ " Lori held up a piece of paper for everyone to see while all of us contestants were intently waiting before the screens. I had a solid grip on Parker's hand, and his was just as strong hoping that I made it through. " _And here's the first pick of the night… Lucy Gomez!_ "

From there it went on, more names were called while the judges kept neutral faces as to not give anything away. I felt the hope of myself slipping through slowly as I didn't hear my name be called through the intercom. I could see some of the people grinning around me menacingly, happy that even as a judge's daughter, I most likely wasn't going to make it through.

Parker was right at my side. He held my hand tightly in his own. "Don't worry Eira, you'll get in."

I looked at the ground. "…And if I don't?"

"Then there's next time, but you had such a great performance… you have to get in… it might have been last minute, but you worked really hard on the appeal, and if you make it through, you have this thing in the bag!"

"But I have to make it through for that Parker…"

"You will… I know you will…" Parker's hand gripped mine tighter and it made me glance at him. Why was he getting all worked up over this? Why did it matter so much to him if I made it through?

Six other names had been called, only one spot was left. If there was only one spot left… I most likely had not made it… I sighed and turned my back.

"Come on Parker… I didn't make it… maybe I'll try again another day…"

" _And the last one through is… Eira Helaine!_ "

My lungs froze and I was roughly pulled back to look at the screen that had my name and picture on it. Parker grinned, pulling me back and forcing me to look, not that my eyes could avoid it.

 _I… made it…?_

"See Eira! You did it!" Parker cheered in my ear, but I could hardly pay attention to him as my eyes looked at the monitors, it switches to that of the judges faces and my proud mother's face. Tears were streaming down her face, even as she tried to hide them. "You're through to the next round!"

"I… made it…" I couldn't help the smile appear on my face while Parker held me closer to him in his arms. I could feel the pride and happiness roll right off of him. And now it was rolling off of myself and my pokemon

 _We made it…_

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

When the next round came, I knew that any of my normal fighters could easily handle the prissy people who were before me. Battling was not an issue, only appeals were, and we had somehow managed to make it past that. Now that I had managed to perform at least once, and my pokemon saw what it entitled, they agreed to think and try upon it in the future, which gave me some time to think over other appeals for all of them.

But that was for later, at the moment, we were preparing for the battles, there were only going to be four, granted people made it all the way to the top. I decided to use Magma for the battle portion since he seemed the most eager of the three. Bouncy was still struggling with battling and I felt should wait a bit longer before I would get her involved with too many. Appealing might be a way for her to keep practicing while she tries to get stronger before she makes it to more of the tougher battles that the rest of my team seems to face all the time.

"Alright Eira, you ready?" Parker was still with me in the back, cheering me on and being my helper when I came back from the stage to get me ready. I nodded to my best friend before holding Magma's pokeball in a death grip in my hand as I walked out onto the stage.

On the other side, there was a young man who was watching my every move. He was my opponent for the first round. I watched him curiously, but he didn't seem very intriguing or strong to me. Sparkling clothes with neon colors stood out on this fellow as he seemed to be trying to resemble a king… of sorts. I wasn't sure how he was going to make it through, being all dressed up like that and with his bitchy, over the top, attitude, but his pokemon made an incredible appeal with a grass type pokemon using sunny day and some other moves that seemed somewhat strong and worked with the lighting. I couldn't remember it, but I was fretting too much over my own.

"You… you little newbie… your going down! I refuse to let someone who's in their first contest to win!" The slightly older man pointed his finger at me while I raised an eye brow at him. He didn't seem to stop trembling in rage as he watched me hardly have a reaction to him. He was one of those types of people I tended to ignore, I didn't like them…

"Then face me…" I hardly blinked at my opponent and that seemed to tick him off when he bit his own clothing and danced about the stage in a fit. The judges and the crowd seemed to be upset with him as well, but their rules prevented them from doing too much to get him out of here faster.

So that just meant I needed to annihilate him.

"Alright! Our fourth battle of this contest is going to be underway! Who will triumph here? The wild and out of control Cecil? Or the cool and collected Eira? Let's find out!" Lori cheered as she pointed up to the clock next to us that was timed with five minutes. It began to count down.

"Let's go Jumpuff!" I was hardly surprised to see a frilly looking pokemon come out onto the stage. It cheered and floated in the air before situating itself next to its trainer. The trainer and it smiled at crowd before looking over at me.

I sighed as I send out my own pokeball and the air suddenly turned humid. Magma appeared from the white light and the spectators gasped in shock from looking at the type of my pokemon as well as his size.

The pokemon on the other side of the field fearful shook as it hovered closely to its trainer. "Don't worry buddy, I bet that pokemon couldn't do a thing to you!"

But the pokemon felt differently as it watch my pokemon with hesitance. Magma glared out at the pokemon before smiling with malice a moment later. It screamed and ducked behind its trainer. The judges looked out with sadness before points on the other trainer's side of the field began to drop.

"Jumpluff! What are you doing! We're going to lose at this rate!" The trainer's screams didn't seem to bother its pokemon much as it continued to cower from my pokemon.

I sighed; I knew this wasn't going to turn out well… "Magma, sunny day."

My pokemon grinned as he looked to the air above him before throwing up a bright ball of energy in his hands. The crowd awed at him while the judges seemed stunned as well.

"I hate to be biased, but my baby has a good team," my mother noted from the side. "She's a trainer first, not a coordinator, so she and her team knows how to battle. I have a feeling this one will be short."

"I'm warning you now," the trainer looked over at me while I spoke softly, almost to the point that he couldn't hear me. "Magma's ready to go and fight, but I don't want to risk an injury. It looks like your pokemon doesn't wish to fight against mine, I would suggest surrendering, or Magma may hurt you while attacking in this battle stage."

"To hell with you!" The trainer ripped his pokemon out from behind his back and threw it before him. I watched with shocked eyes as the pokemon hit the ground and suddenly was lying there, groaning in pain. The trainer was angry, but in the same moment, his face changed to shock. "Oh Arceus! Jumpuff! I'm so sorry!"

I turned to the judges and Lori. "May we call the match now? This hurts to do nothing and my pokemon may act on his own accord if that happens again."

Of course, Magma would always listen to my orders; that much would never change. However, that didn't mean he was shaking in rage after what happened to the small little grass type. I'm sure it reminded him of how Bouncy was beaten, or maybe some of the grass and bug type pokemon that lived in the same area he did in the outskirts of Floaroma.

I was in rage myself. How dare that young man call himself a trainer and one close to his pokemon? He just tossed the poor creature before him like a sack of garbage. I was close myself to releasing the small restraint Magma and I had on each other to let him have his way with the irresponsible human like I did with the grunts of Team Galactic.

"Jumpuff refuses to battle!" Lori called out while the screen was covered in an 'x' mark before my face enlarged on the screen. "Eira moves onto the next round!"

I closed my eyes and turned then from the boy who sobbed on the field. I had done nothing more than speak a few words and he shattered before us, showing the world, through the people of this town, papers, and TV's as well that he was an unfit trainer and a sore sport. He wasn't worth my time.

"Mag…" Magma was hot on my tail while the sunny day attack faded and the room darkened a bit from the missing light. He was displeased with the fight, looking forward to taking someone out; however, even so, he wasn't going to fight5 a scared opponent. My mother and the other judges watched as I left and headed back into the dugout.

Like before, Parker was waiting for me there for me as I approached the contestant area. He noticed the look on my face as I returned and offered me a small smile. He placed a hand on my shoulder and made me look at him other then the floor.

"I know that really angered you, but thank you for not lashing out." He pulled me in for a hug. "You did the right thing."

"…Thank you…" I nodded to him as I made my way into the back, promising Magma that he'd have his way with the next opponent.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It was another hour later before Magma and I had made it to the finals. While the first battle had been short and nothing of what we desired for, the other two had provided some relief from that. The pokemon we faced in the other two battles actually wanted to battle us, but we ended up the victors anyway. I was happy to see Magma over the ordeal, but that didn't mean either of us were still sour over the previous events.

The final round had arrived though. I was more than thrilled to have made it this far. The contest world was very different from the world of battling, but it was… fun… when you got to face real coordinators that provided a challenge of course. I was hoping the further I got into this field, the more of those kinds of people I would find.

"Alright you guys! Here we are! The final match!" Lori cried out as myself and my opponent stood on opposite sides of the field. I noticed he was one of the coordinators that actually seemed to do well in his appeal and some of his battles, he possible would provide some entertainment for my pokemon. "Here in the final match we have Eira and Justin along with their two pokemon Magma and Golduck!"

My opponent stood with a battle ready stance about him. He was ready for this. I gave a rare grin as my adrenaline pumped in my system. _Let's go!_

"Begin!" Lori shouted and the clock started.

"Okay, start out with focus punch Golduck!" The water type pokemon raced forward with speed that none of the other coordinator's pokemon had and swung at my pokemon with its webbed first. Magma just was fast enough to dodge it before getting that gleam in his eyes from the opponent.

 _We'd found one… a tough opponent to face in contests…_

Magma grinned instantly and took off toward the opponent without a command from myself, striking of his own accord as he watched me smile. The golduck only had a moment to duck as Magma came flying in at him with fists covered in flames.

"My goodness! There must be a high level of communication for this set of Eira and Magma to be able to know what each other is thinking in battle!" Lori cried as she watched the battle.

"It's either that, or she doesn't mind letting the pokemon run wild of its own accord." Dexter questioned a bit as he watched us. "It's possible that the pokemon had experience fighting to apposing types such as water types and what not before it was captured and added to this young coordinator's team."

"Water pulse Golduck! Then follow up with aqua jet!" The trainer's commands set out and Magma had time to miss the first of the oncoming attacks before he was shot back due to the second when the golduck came rushing in covered in water and slamming into him. Magma cringed at the pain, but he looked up at his opponent and let out a huff of air that turned into steam. Heat was radiating off of him in large quantities, showing off a bit of his power. The golduck was hesitant as it looked at us, but didn't back down.

I dared to look at the points on our side of the board; we were losing them for being hit and not doing much of anything. We had to keep up our appearance as well to win the contest.

"Smog." Magma grinned as he threw out his attack to the other side of the field and the poison attack clouded the air. Judges and others began to hold their hands over their mouths to prevent from breathing it in while the golduck didn't get so lucky and sucked in a breath. It began to cough as the poison moved through its body and it began to shake.

"Golduck!" The other coordinator cried out.

Our opponent was done for as soon as the toxin entered it its system. Using smog as an attack worked out well for us because the toxin slowed down everything in the opponent's body it. The golduck was then forced to hunch over to avoid more of the poison, but the smog stayed thickly in the air, there was no escape.

The coordinator cried out to his pokemon, but there was nothing he could do now, the battle was swayed in my direction. Points on his side of the board were skyrocketing downward, and it wouldn't be long before he was out.

"Alright Magma," I spoke calmly as I knew the ending result of the battle, as he did too. "Finish this up with lava plume."

My fire type grinned madly before his attacks shot right out of his mouth. Lava flowed and as soon as it hit the ground it started to spike upward until it shot into the golduck's body. The poor pokemon hunched over in pain before it fell to the ground exhausted. The judges waited for a few seconds to see if the pokemon would stand up again, but it did not.

"I would say that's the end of this contest," Dexter said. "The winner of this competition is Eira Helaine!"

The crowd erupted into roars of cheers, and I was surprised to see them standing up on their feet. I watched in amazement and looked around the entire area to make sure that what I was seeing was actually true and not a figment of my imagination. When I was sure it was truly real, I felt it full force when Magma slammed into my side hugging me. It was an unusual emotion for him to show, his excitement was normally kept on the battlefield as he pummeled his opponents, but for some reason this made him feel good.

The only thing I can figure about why it would make him feel so great is because he got to beat up a whole bunch of prissy people.

Another figure slammed into my side, Parker was there, hugging me close to his figure as he cheered in my ear effectively deafening me. But because he was so happy I couldn't stop myself from smiling and preventing myself from pushing him away or telling him he was being too noisy. I had to admit I was happy that I had won. I was happy to see the smiling faces of my team and my best friend, and my other friends up in the stands. It was like a sense of... pride, a feeling I had not felt much in my life. It was exciting, it was warm, powerful, and I couldn't help but smother myself in it when a larger grin planted itself on my face for once.

The next thing I noticed was my mother standing from her seat along with the other judges and applauding me. Once they were done with that, I watched my mother turn to Dexter and ask him something, but I could not hear it over the crowd cheering.

What happened next surprised me. My mother took the beautiful ribbon, that was supposed to be presented to the winner of the competition, and made her way out towards me. Lori also came over because I had no microphone on me and handed hers to me.

"You were amazing baby girl," my mother told me. Her face was swelling with so much pride I was worried she would get over excited and faint. "And now I get the honor to present you with your very first ribbon."

The ribbon in her hands was small in size, nothing more than what could fit in the palm of my hand. It was cute looking; it was dark silver in color with a brighter silver for the edges of both sides of the ribbon that was fashioned into a bowl like manner. Attached in the middle of it was a small golden star metal piece that held the ribbon together, and acted almost like a badge did, it was one of the ways they would tell if this was a fake or real when it would come to the Grand Festival down the line.

I was so excited that I could barely suppress the squeal that was sitting in the back of my throat. When I looked at my mother I think she wish that I would have but seeing the grin on my face was more than enough for her. She hugged me close before she turned into the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let me present to you today's winner of this contest, my daughter Eira Helaine!"

It didn't take long for the crowd to make their way down to the battlefield and swarm me, asking questions at rapid paces or just trying to shake my hand or that of my pokemon. It was only a moment before I saw Aria come into view. She had a lot of tools such as a laptop a notepad and a camera that she was carrying with the help of her boyfriend and Vince. She and the other smiled warmly at me before motioning me over to them, ready for me to do an interview. I smiled and nodded my head to her before making my way through the crowd, excitement bouncing off the wall still.

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Holy crap… did I take forever on this chapter… You know, I loved it and it came out alright, nothing like with the last story and Jezebel's story, but still it turned out well. I loved how I made her think she couldn't have gotten in, but she did last minute! It's all part of her personality! But still… I spent weeks on this chapter and it just held me back a lot… irritating as all hell. But I'm happy it's done and ready for you all to enjoy!**

 **So now we get to go back to Eira and her group with badges! I'm so excited for the next chapter, and hopefully it will be a little smaller…**

 **Alright you guys, like always remember to Review and Send in Questions! We love you and can't wait to show you next week's chapter! Bye!**

 _ **Halloween**_ _ **Witch**_


	14. Do You Feel Them?

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 14: Do You Feel Them?_

 **Eira's Point of View (Dream):**

 _I was starting to grow accustomed to appearing here during most of the nights I slept. I just felt bad that my other pokemon couldn't join me here to see my newest friend. Shadow loomed over me, looking at the colorful ribbons in my case that I had gathered to compete in the Grand Festival. It had only taken me a few weeks of contests in order to achieve the five ribbon total to compete in the competition. It would be held in a month or so time in the city of Pastoria. I looked forward to competing there with my team._

 _Shadow, Celeste and Rotom all hovered around me while I showed them the ribbons. Other then the silver one I received when I won my first one, I had obtained a red one, a green one, a blue one and a purple one. The silver one was still the most appealing to my eyes, but I liked the others for various reasons. For example, the green and red ones were much more simple in design, only being two ends of a ribbon hanging downward from the pokeball shaped metal piece. The blue and purple ones were entirely more elaborate, have a double bow in them and having a pattern in the fabric of the bow itself, showing it was a later contest ribbon you could only get toward the end._

 _It was hard to win some of those contests, and there were a few times were we did fall flat. My battling pokemon did okay in appeals, but it's Bouncy who excelled in them to get us through to the next round. I had to stick with her when it came to appeals, otherwise I normally lost since my battlers just weren't cut out for looking more than strong and intimidating, and not all judges find that cool. Even my mother withdrew points on me for that. So I had to stick with Bouncy. I had fallen out of a good few contests, mostly when I didn't use Bouncy for performances, but a couple times I did fail and it was a mess up in her routine we couldn't recover from. It was a good lesson to keep pushing us forward._

 _"Wow! They're so pretty!" Celeste grinned as she watched them move in the light wind in her hands in the Distorted World. "Are you still competing?"_

 _I shook my head. "No… I'm focusing on battling and getting Bouncy stronger for when it comes to the Grand Festival. She'll be my main performer, and if I can get her through, then we should have a decent shot at the trophy." I lowered my head. "It will be touch and go though… Bouncy is good at appeals, great even… but we still have our mistakes… and the judges are getting harder…"_

 _"Rhu…" Shadow loomed over my shoulder and rubbed the side of my face in encouragement. I smiled at her and rubbed her cheek._

 _"Thank you Shadow." I nodded to her. "I'll do my best. Maybe one day you can leave here and compete too? It would be really cool to see what you could do."_

 _The shadow dragon thought about it for a moment before I watched her change entirely to shadows and move about the area. I was surprised when certain shadows remained constant, almost like doorways and she called out another attack. Meteors shed from the sky above and came toward her into the shadow portals she had made before shooting around through the different ones, making a personal meteor shower right before our eyes._

 _My eyes glowed in shock as I watched her before one of the meteors crashed into another and it made a ripple effect. The attacks happily faded into a glowing dust that floated around us from the draco meteor attack._

 _"Wow Shadow… that's really cool… now I wish I had you to help me out with the Grand Festival coming up soon…" Shadow beamed with pride and came close to me, rubbing my face with her own happily from the praise. "Do you think the next time I come here you could try to connect my pokemon here with me too? I'd love for you to meet them. Bubbly, Elecky, Magma and Bouncy love meeting new friends."_

 _Shadow looked at me curiously before she slowly nodded her head to me. I'm sure she was nervous to meet others because of how long it took for us to get acquainted, but if I was okay with Shadow, I knew the others would be. They would accept anyone I had grown to trust._

 _I looked out further into the world I visited most nights in my dreams. I was slowly getting closer to the orb that Celeste had often talked about me getting that Shadow was willing for me to take, if I could make it to it. I'd spent quite a few weeks slowly working on the path and building it in my mind and how to get there. I've been to many blocks and empty passages, and it seems the world wants me to take the long way around. I didn't mind it much; it gave me more time to hang out with the others here._

 _We had made it through many parts of the path and were nearly two thirds of the way there when I saw we had a waterfall to somehow get around. I sighed as I looked at it before jumping into the cold water before letting the water push me upwards into the sky. I struggled to keep to the surface as it kept trying to pull me under. My lungs burned as I was fighting against the water._

 _It felt like an eternity before I hit the surface again and gasped for breath. I was now at the top of the waterfall and quickly grabbed onto the shore and pulled me up. I breathed heavily while I saw the others gathered around me._

 _"Are you okay Eira?" Celeste was by my side and moving some of the hair out of my eyes that plastered itself close to my face._

 _"I will be." I sighed heavily before grabbing at my hair and wringing it out. Nearly a gallon of water rolled off of me through my clothes and hair. I then got a good look to the area around me. It seemed to actually be a strait path now, which I was surprised at. Just as I took the first step toward it, my world began to get dark._

 _"Awe…" Celeste groaned as she watched me begin to fade. "But we're almost there!"_

 _"Don't worry…" I patted the top of her head. "We'll try again next time." She smiled lightly up at me before sighing and heading back to her small pokemon friend. Shadow cuddled my face for a small bit before she took backed up as I faded more out of view._

 _"Love you Shadow…"_

 _Her cry was the last thing I heard…_

 **Awake (Still Eira's Point of View):**

I groaned a bit as I was shaken awake on my bed. I peeked out through one of my eyes to see Parker sitting there on the edge of my bed.

"Moring sleepy head." He grinned as he looked down at me. "Ready for you gym battle today? If you want to make it there on time, we gotta get going in the next hour."

"Okay…" I closed my eyes again, even if I had wanted to get up at a certain time, my body didn't feel like agreeing with me. I brought the covers back up over my body and turned away from Parker. I heard him snort a laugh and felt him pull away at the sheets.

"Come on Eira. Go hop into the shower and you'll wake up. I'll get you some breakfast while you do that." I huffed out a response and refused to get up. He just sighed and walked out the door. "Okay, fine, but don't be mad at me if you miss your gym battle with Fantina!"

 _That's right… I had a gym battle today…_ I sighed and sat up in the bed, not ready to be up at all. It was still early in the morning, only about six or so. I normally would sleep for another hour or two, but Fantina had a contest she was involved with today that would take up the second half of her day, so she agreed to battle me before she went over for the contest, which was when her gym opened at seven.

 _Thank Arceus that the gym is right next door…_ I slowly picked myself out of bed and headed toward the shower where I intended to wake up and get clean for the day to have my battle before we planned to head out toward the next town. We'd been here for quite a while, nearly a couple weeks, and my pokemon were getting a bit sick of doing nothing more than training and contest. They wanted a real battle, and even Bouncy wanted to try her hand at a gym battle now that she had more experience under her belt. It would work out well since this was a ghost type gym and she was a normal type, so she wouldn't be affected by most of the ghost pokemon could unleash on her.

So Bouncy was going to give it a try, and then afterward it would be Elecky. Elecky was dying to get in for a good battle; it had been too long since she had a strong trainer to really face off against, not since Parker battled us in Oreburg. If Elecky fell in battle, then Bubbly would go and last would be Magma, since he got the last gym battle all to himself.

I sighed as I striped myself of my clothes and put them in the machine to clean and dry them while I was in the shower. The water did feel good on my skin and warmed me up from the cold air that was slowly slipping in. My friends and I would have to get warmer clothes soon before it got too cold…

 _Oh wait… I have some…_ I thought back to the clothes that Cordelia had bought for me on my birthday and remembered I had stored them away. Winter would be here shortly and the cold was coming on fast. Nights were reaching freezing temperatures now and the leaves were nearly gone on the trees as we began to approach winter and Christmas. If I remembered correctly… Christmas would be just after the Grand Festival… wow…

I quickly heard a knock at my door and put my head out of the shower to look at the door crack open. "Yes?"

"Hey Eira, I got you breakfast and what not." I heard Parker's voice come into the room. "It's also pretty cold today, so you're going to want to get that jacket and boots my mom gave you on before we leave. Cam and I are already dressed and ready to go. We'll meet you downstairs. Oh! And I also got you some mint tea in a thermos again! It's on your nightstand! Your pokemon are up and eating and waiting on you!"

"Thank you Parker." I heard the door close then and I sighed.

 _Mint tea… you really do spoil me Parker…_

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Only half an hour later I was out of the shower, clothed, covered in winter clothes, eaten breakfast, and ready to go. My mother had some time off this morning so she decided she wanted to come over with me to watch my gym battle. She was really excited to see how I faired against a Grand Festival winner, even if she was a gym leader. In my mind, I figured she had at least some strength to her team, I mean, she won the Grand Festival, not to mention, she was recognized as a gym leader, so she had to have some strength in her team at least. I knew she was going to use her prized partner of many years, Mismagius, at some point, but she had two other pokemon that I didn't know what she planned on using against us, it was a large game of guessing and scenarios in my head the entire walk over there.

But the walk was short; my wild mind of thoughts was short lived as we entered the doors to the ghost type gym. Parker had already won his badge a while back. We came for his in the early morning much like we were doing with mine. Cameron still tended to avoid gym battles, not that he didn't like them, but he just didn't feel the need to do so. He was striving as an assistant to a professor and probably would become one in his later years. Cameron was observant, caring and through, but he did have a bad streak with people at times, such as myself. It takes him a bit longer to understand since he's so wrapped up in the world that he wants to be a part of. Of course, we accepted that, Parker and I, when becoming his friends and traveling companions, but it can hurt every now and then. He's not the best when it comes to other people… but pokemon? You might not get him to shut up for the next three years…

"Ah, I was wondering when you would arrive Miss Eira." My head looked up from the floor and I glanced at the gym leader before me. In her same dress as I saw her last, one of her normal outfits that she often wore no matter what, she smiled at me and motioned me closer. "I'm excited for our battle today, as it seems your mother and friends are too."

"Thank you for having this battle with her Fantina." My mother gushed as she hugged me close. "I know you're busy and getting a gym battle with you is difficult."

"Oh nonsense, I can always set aside time for my second job, especially if this is the daughter of one my old friends." Fantina grinned at me before pointing at my mother. "We used to be rivals in the past you know, training together in order to be top coordinators."

I blinked at her in shock. I never knew that about my mother, but she never did talk about others when it came to her past. It often reminded her too much of my father when anything related to the past came up. She was always looking in the present and future. My mother of course had been more than happy to talk about her appeals and what she had done in contests, but outside of that field, she preferred to keep quiet, which was unlike her entirely.

"I'm sure she would have beaten me two years prior too if it hadn't of been for the fact she had to drop out because you were sick. She couldn't bear to leave your side until you were well, and pulled out of that tournament. She would have been the only thing that stood between me and crown."

"Oh Fantina, you know as well as I do that we were more matched then anything," my mother spoke up. "It would have gone either way."

"I still don't particularly like the way I won Joey, but hopefully when the time comes for the Super Grand Festival we'll be set up against each other and truly find out who would have won. But for now, I believe I have another that I need to battle, yes?"

"Yes… I would like to battle you now." I looked up at her while her eyes trailed on me and she nodded.

"Follow me back this way and I'll show you to where we'll be battling today." I followed after the woman with my friends and family behind me. We approached a large door that Fantina opened for us, leading to a battlefield covered in graves and fog. She was trying to increase the chances of her ghost type pokemon evading my pokemon's sight while on the field and creating shields to hide behind. Smart move…

"So," she walked over to one side and allowed me to walk over to the other. "This is a three on three battle, so let's see just how strong you are, hm?"

"Okay." I nodded to her before my own pokeball was in my hands, my plans already in mind.

She grinned. "Then let's get started shall we?" She threw out a pokeball. "Go Duskull!"

I watched as a small little ghost pokemon in grey coloring appear with a skull mask over its face and a single red eye floating between the two eye sockets. It laughed lightly at me before fading into the background, not even giving me a chance to call out my pokemon.

Is that legal? It honestly didn't bother me much in my mind. Fantina would have used the maneuver anyway once the official battle started.

I shook my head before I threw out my pokeball. "Let's go Bouncy!"

My shiny buneary appeared on the field and her teammates cheered her on the sidelines when the released themselves from their pokeballs. She looked around the field before her and timidly scanned the area, but she braved it out, I couldn't help but smile at her for that.

"Bouncy, the pokemon has faded away in order to keep itself hidden from you." I spoke to my pokemon to help calm her nerves. "Let's use an attack to pull it out into the light, use shock wave."

My pokemon nodded and did as told while she summoned electricity in her hands and slammed it into the ground, the electricity spiking all over the place before we heard a cry and the ghost pokemon revealed a portion of itself. Bouncy saw it and cried out and I smiled.

"Shadow ball!" Bouncy cried and shot out the dark energy she had summoned before her body, slamming it into the other pokemon. It was super effective against it, but there weren't many moves that the ghost could use against a normal type.

"Pursuit!" Fantina called out and the ghost quickly appeared near Bouncy and swiped at her with a dark type move. She cried out as she was hit and was thrown back into a grave. She wasn't as strong as the others, but she had improved just by the strength she showed by not being taken out by that move. Even if it wasn't a powerful one. Bouncy's endless training was finally paying off…

"Counter with ice beam!" My buneary shot out an ice attack and it hit the ghost pokemon, making it shiver and stick to the grave it was near and unable to pull itself free because of the cold.

"Duskull! Break it with sucker punch!" The ghost pokemon slowly moved its hands to coat them in darkness and tried to punch at the ice. Slowly it began to come apart.

"Hit it again with thunderbolt!"

The blood was pumping in both of us now. Bouncy cried out again as she unleashed an electrical attack upon the ghost. Its eye went wide as the attack hit and it was fried now compared to frozen. It felt from its spot, finally breaking away from the ice and landed on the ground, knocked out.

"My goodness, I didn't think your star appeal pokemon would be this good at battling. I'm impressed." Fantina smiled before she looked at my buneary again. "But not to be rude or undermine your authority of your team, but you may want to pull her out. I believe Bouncy has had enough for the time being."

She was right, I could see Bouncy breathing heavily out on the field and favoring the hit she had taken. Even if she had won this small battle, there was much more in store for her if she stayed out there.

I nodded my head. "Bouncy, come back."

"Bun?" She turned her head back to me in question before she shook her head at me and looked out to Fantina on the other side of the field. "Bun bun!"

"Bouncy…" I was worried for her, I really was. She was so determined to make herself stronger that she kept putting herself in bad situations, whether she knew it or not. She wanted to keep going, even if she knew she wouldn't make it in the next fight. My poor little pokemon…

 _It would break her heart too much if I stopped her now. She needed to know just how far she could go…_

"Alright… but be careful." I was nervous as I watched her from the side lines. The others on my team were worried as well. You could feel it roll off of us in waves. But if she wanted to keep going, what kind of monsters would we be for trying to stop her?

"If you so insist little buneary, I will oblige to help you get stronger and show you defeat!" Fantina threw out another pokeball. "Go Haunter!"

The dark purple ghost pokemon soon revealed itself and appeared before my pokemon. One look at Bouncy however sent it into a fit of laughter while my pokemon growled.

"BUN!" Bouncy's cry screeched out into the air and the pokemon changed its tune as soon as its ghostly ears were ringing from the loud sound that came from her. My eyes widened in shock as I noticed Bouncy take on an angrier and determined approach then she ever did before.

 _Did she just use uproar?_ I blinked at her in question before my mind got back into the game. This was a gym battle and Bouncy just gave me another advantage in this battle. She had free range to attack while the pokemon was bent over in pain.

"Now Bouncy! Use shadow ball!" My pokemon smiled before she complied and made a ball of ghostly energy and threw it at the Haunter. It cried out as it was thrown back, still in shock from the ringing in the air and then from the attack. "Again!"

"Bun bun!" She kept making and hurling the new attack she learned a few weeks ago as we prepared to face this gym and other contestants in the contests for ribbons. Bouncy was like a jack of all trades as she learned nearly seven different types of moves including normal, fighting, ice, water, electric, grass and ghost. There was more I hoped to teach her later for as many situations as possible, but we needed to get her stronger too while we did that.

I was still surprised by the fast one that she pulled on me with knowing uproar, she must have learned it when she wasn't with me or just figured it out with the others. She was so hell bent on getting to a higher level when it came to anything. Poor Bouncy was working hard, but only so much was showing for it. Only now did I see that she really was pushing herself to do anything in her power to reach the level that we were all at.

The haunter kept moving backward as it was slammed with each shadow ball. Bouncy was hurling as much as she could at it until her little arms were nearly black and blue from using them so much. Her cheeks were red from all the shouting she had done and her limbs were limp as she sunk to her knees and watched the other side of the field.

To my shock, the little ghost pokemon fell to the floor, defeated and knocked out before it could even make a single move. Fantina and my family and friends were all shocked as they looked out to my little pokemon before she collapsed and was knocked out from how hard she worked. I gasped and rushed out to her with the rest of my team, holding her in my arms. Bouncy was out cold, but she had done more then I had expected of her. Even in a weaker state then the others, she still managed to take out two of three pokemon against a gym leader. And that was incredible for her.

And I couldn't be prouder…

"Thank you Bouncy…" I returned her to her pokeball before returning to my side of the field. "Elecky, let's finish this up."

My electric type nodded before she rushed out onto the field. She huffed at her opponent, waiting for the final pokemon to be called out. Fantina laughed at her and Elecky growled.

"I'm surprised and a bit excited for this last match. If your buneary had a little more energy left, I would have loved to face her in the final part of our match. But no matter, I will face you with my last pokemon and see how you fair! Go Mismagius!"

The last of her ghosts came out and I was surprised to see this form. It was like a ghostly form of a witch. It looked pretty impressive and cute, even as a ghost, but so had Casey's froslass.

I pulled out my pokedex to see what I could gather for information on this pokemon. _Mismagius, the magical pokemon and the evolved form of midsdreavus with a dusk stone. Its cry sounds like an incantation. It's said the cry may rarely be imbued with happiness-given power. Those hearing it are tormented by headaches and hallucinations. It appears when you least expect it. There are no known mismagius nests in this region._

"Magical leaf!" Fantina roughly started out before I had a moment to think. Her pokemon cried out, and it sounded much like an incantation like my pokedex said, before leaves covered in colors shot at my pokemon.

"Shock wave!" Elecky roared out and hit them with her attack, frying them in the air, but the dust still hit her of what charred remains seemed to be of those leaves. Elecky coughed at the dust, but other than that roared back out at her opponent.

I could feel it racing now, the blood in my body and Elecky felt it too. The rush of energy that seemed to be in all of us when we experienced a battle of some kind… it was so thrilling and wonderful. Elecky fed right off of it from the rest of us and rushed forward.

"Crunch!" She widened her jaw as wide as she could and tore right into the other pokemon. It screeched out, the sweet and soothing incantation no longer there in the air. The pokemon rushed away from my own, but was unable to escape from her. Elecky chased after her until she went through a grave and Elecky charged right through it, head butting it into pieces. The pokemon's eyes went wide before sparks appeared all over her body.

"Damn…" Fantina cursed as she looked at my final pokemon, much tougher then Bouncy had been and could easily take out anything that stood in her way. Fantina sighed before looking up at the battle in defeat, but some defiance there as well.

"Get it Mismagius! Use ominous wind!" The ghost cried out and unleashed it's most powerful attack were souls were summoned to her body and shot out into the air, their groaned echoing off the walls.

"Finish it off Elecky! Thunderbolt!" My electric type cried out before she released the pent up energy inside her that coated the whole field in electricity. Fantina screamed and ducked as her pokemon and its attack were hit in the heart of it. It was only moments, but I saw the pokemon fall in the mist of all the smoke, the field was clear now, the fog machines burned and destroyed as well as the graves and most of the field and walls charred. Fantina looked out and around before she groaned.

"It's going to take a while to fix this…" She shook her head before she made it over to me. "Regardless of how I feel about the place, you my dear have beaten me and are worthy to have my badge, the relic badge." She walked over to me while my pokemon cheered and she handed me a small badge, it reminded me of a will-o-wisp attack with a reddish brown color in the middle circle with bluish purple ones circling around it. I happily added it to my case and Fantina held out her hand. "I'm excited to see how you grow and further gather your team; I'll be waiting to see you at the Grand Festival."

"Thank you…" I smiled at her before turning to my friends and we left the gym. My mother was gushing the whole time until I told her we had to leave. She sighed, but she understood. We left her at the contest hall before heading to the northeast on our way to the next gym leader in Veilstone.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"Oh please come inside! It's pouring out there! You shouldn't travel now!" After having my pokemon healed in Hearthome, we left and headed out to Solaceon and had a quick lunch before heading north again, only to be hit with a rain storm. It would be one of the last before the snow would begin to start falling; in fact… it was a mixture of snow and rain…

We rushed into the building, a small café out on the route between Solaceon and Veilstone for trainers to stop at. They got a lot of business from the many trainers and I could smell delicious pastries, coco, and tea in the air. It was refreshing and sounded warm after what we had come through.

"This storm is going to be here until the morning, you best stay here the night." The woman who had invited us in said as she went back behind the counter. "Here, have some warm milk and cookies, on the house for you poor trainers."

The three of us quickly dived into what she had given us, happy for any form of warmth. The winter's weren't easy here in the Shinoh region, but they weren't impossible either, just snowy and cold in most areas. In the marshes they get icy and slippery most of the time, but people like that for ice skating apparently.

"Thank you." I smiled at her. "Could we have some more food please? I'll pay for it… my pokemon has a fast metabolism…"

"Of course!" She smiled and handed me a menu that I showed to Bubbly and told her what was there. "Take your time and order whatever you like."

Bubbly grinned at me and I sighed. _I could never say no to her._ I smiled at the lady. "I'll have of one of everything."

"Excuse me?!"

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Damn I raced through that chapter… it only took me twenty-four hours…**

 **Ah, gotta love Bubbly! She and Eira really are quite the pair, but onto the real cool fact of this chapter, Bouncy was fucken awesome in this chapter! I wasn't actually planning for that to happen, but when it did, I was so happy! It was so cool to see her actually win in a battle, but I knew I had to cut her off at some point or else it wouldn't work for her struggling character. We haven't seen the last of that either.**

 **But anyway, what did you all think? As always I want to hear from you my dear readers! My lovelies! Don't forget to Review and send in any Questions! We're nearly at the half way point! Only two more chapters before then! Oh I can't wait for more exciting stuff! So many things planned that you guys aren't going to guess! I'm going to be so mean and tease you! Two deaths in this story! Not saying which! I'd rather surprise you! Who do you think it will be? You have to let me know!~**

 **Love you all and see you next week!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	15. A Fist Full of Experience

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 15: A Fist Full of Experience_

 **Eira's Point of View:**

We ended up staying at the cafe for a lot longer than we had planned. What ended up coming through that day was a snowstorm. We were trapped at the cafe for three days, surviving off of what they had leftover in stock. The women running the cafe had stayed behind with us in the extra rooms they had in the basement and on the second floor. The boys and their pokemon stayed in the same room to save up space, but I was allowed my own room, because the women believe that I shouldn't have to share with the guys, especially since there was only one bed per room. I laughed really hard, for the one time of my life, when I heard that Cameron and Parker had to share the bed and how they had managed to be tangled in each other's limbs the next morning. When I had gone to check on them, it was one of the funniest things that I'd ever seen in my life. Even my pokemon got a good laugh out of it; Bubbly got the best laugh, because she loved to pick on the two of them here on there. On the third day of the storm it finally started to clear up. So we left even though it was dark. With all the fresh snow on the ground it was easier to see where we were going because of the last moon light that reflected off the snow.

We finally got to Vilestone somewhere in the middle of the night, and ended up going straight to bed when we reached a pokemon center. We're all exhausted from having to charge through the snow. I ended up hearing a lot of machinery in the night as they were working on cleaning up the three day amount of snow. Because of how cold it was, even with the power still on surprisingly, my team and I shared the bed all snuggled together. Magma was the one who provided most of the heat being a fire type.

When the next morning came, we got up and met the boys downstairs in the lobby. They seem still really exhausted, but I didn't question them about what. It was hard to sleep with all the machines going last night out on the streets, the clouds were exquisitely noisy as they hit the street and sidewalk, scraping against the concert. I'm sure nobody slept really well that night.

I set myself down the table with the guys, and pick up the menu to see what there was to order. As I looked through all the options they all look delectable choices. My eyes were set on the mint tea like they always were, along with some pancakes. I would need as much energy as possible when facing the gym leader; I've heard she's quite tough. Her name was Maylene Lee and she was well known for her fighting style, trophies, and for being one of the youngest gym leaders in all time.

My pokemon had fought all the last three days to find out who would go first when it came to the battle itself. Bubbly wanted to go first because she hadn't been part of a gym battle since the very first one. Magma wanted to go first because he hadn't faced off since the second one and he was always way too eager to fight and show off his malice to others, of course those who are willing to fight. Elecky wanted to go first because she only had a taste of the last gym match which Bouncy had somehow managed to take up most of it. And then Bouncy wanted to go first again because she wanted to get stronger. After hearing all the arguing for far too long I decided for them. It was not very often that I put my foot down when it came to the four of them, but they had been driving me mad the last few days while we were cramped inside that small cafe.

So the order for the battlefield was planned out like this: Elecky would go first, and then if for some reason she was knocked out it would be Bubbly, and then last would be Magma. Bouncy was not very happy about this, but I had warned her that this was a fighting type gym and she would be at an extreme disadvantage, it was nothing personal against her and I knew she had gotten a lot stronger than when she started, but I didn't want her to be massacred by a team that had the advantage type. Maybe some other time I would let her face them, but for right now I'd rather keep her safely nearby until she gets a bit stronger. Our partners and friends could take care of those other battles.

"Morning Eira!" Parker created me as soon as I entered the cafe portion of the center. I sat down next to him with Cameron across from us. I nodded back to them in my own form of greeting.

"So now that you're here," Cameron said, "we can start planning for the day."

Parker looked at him funny. "What's to plan? Eira and I got the gym to check out and beat. I don't know what you're planning."

"I, for one, didn't want to check out the gym this time. I know you two are very fully capable of beating it on your own without me watching you, so I was hoping to explore some of the town." He folded his hands before him. "I mean don't get me wrong, you guys are great to watch, but just a few days ago I watched you guys take on Fantina, and then we had that giant snow storm. I'm kind of more in the mood to check out some of the sites in the city. I haven't been here too often with the professor, so this really is a new place for me to check out."

"If that's what you want to do..." I shrugged at him. What Cameron decided to do in his free time was not my decision. If he didn't want to watch us that's fine, if he wanted to do his own thing, that was fine too. I'd rather prefer him happily doing what he wants to do rather than force him something.

He smiled at me. "Thanks Eira. I won't be too far away, just going to check out some of the gaming places and some of the pokemon in the area since we're surrounded by water in some areas."

"Well if that's what you want to do..." Parker tilted the side of his head. "Where do we want to meet later through? Eira and I will be at the gym until probably late this afternoon. That's a lot of time to kill..."

Cameron smirked. "Oh I'm sure I'll find something to do. It'll be easier for me than you."

"What was that?" A vein on Parkers head popped and things went downhill from there. The two of them began to argue and squabble like young children and I could only roll my eyes at them. I silently grab my food and finished eating it while taking their own and feeding it to my pokemon before walking out the door.

I could only smirk at what they would be feeling when they found out I took their food. They should know better than to not pay attention, especially when my pokemon are hungry.

Especially Bubbly…

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

I hadn't heard from Parker or Cameron in over an hour since I left them at the pokemon center. While I was out and walking in the city, I noticed there was a lot of lively traffic here. There were a lot of casinos and gaming places along with an amusement park nearby, this was definitely one of the more popular cities to check out.

The sights of the city never cease to amaze me; I notice that this was a historical place as well. On the ground a short distance from the edge of the city I noticed there was a museum as well as some creators that were in the area. There were meteorites, four of them in total. I watched as people swarmed around them to get pictures and see how they had landed at different angles and the stories written about how and when they got there.

Many skyscrapers were also in this city, making it quite a busy place. I couldn't help but feel nervous with all of them around. The claustrophobia started to settle in and I held Bouncy closer to my chest while my pokemon settled around me. It wasn't as busy as Jubilife, but it was at least the same as Hearthrome. I suddenly felt myself grabbed and I raced to turn and see, but to my surprise I saw it was Looker of all people.

"Need some help getting to the gym?" His smile never wavered as he pulled me to the side to help me relax. I looked around me and didn't even notice in my haste and sight seeing that I didn't know where I was. I hung my head in shame and nodded.

"It's alright Miss Eira. Just keep a hold on me."

I felt pretty bad as the older man led me though the city on his arm. My pokemon were curiously watching him as we kept moving through the busy streets and it became more unsteady for me. I could hear my teams' growling as people came to close as my nerves went all over.

"We're almost there."

I had to admit I was pretty happy that the older man was helping me out with that. I wasn't honestly expecting to be found, only to wander until I found my desired location. If that was before or after Parker called a search and rescue team would be the only question we'd need to find out.

"And here we are!"

I blinked and looked up before myself and watched to see that there was in fact the gym before us. The building itself actually seemed to look out over most of the city with a beautiful view of itself as well as the water to the north, the marshes to the south and the forest toward the outskirts. It was breathtaking…

"Well, you go and enjoy your match Eira, I have some more patrolling to do. Team Galactic have been seen pretty heavily in this city. If you see them at all, give me a call, okay?"

I blinked at the man for a moment before I nodded slowly to him. I wasn't sure why he was telling me this. He knew that I'd taken them on before and beaten them easily. Was he worried for some other members that I hadn't seen before? Or maybe he wanted a lead to where he could find more and expose their operation?

"Thank you Miss Eira." Looker ruffled my hair under my hat and I let out a squeal of displeasure. The man had moved and descended on the steps before I could fix it.

I pouted lightly at him before sighing and turning behind me. The gym doors sat open slightly and I dared to peer inside and look to see a lot of training equipment. A punching bag seemed to be being used in the middle of the room. A young woman seemed to be punching at it.

I watched the woman inside the building. She couldn't have been much older than me. She was small in size and very skinny, but in a muscle sort of way. She was strong as she forced the punching bag to swing hard on its chain. Her fists were covered in light fingerless gloves while her body was covered in a skin tight training suit with white sweat pants on. Her feet were bare as well as her arms other then the bandages on them and her nose. Her hair was a bright pink in color and dark eyes contrasted against it.

The door creaked that I was next to and the girl looked over at me. She smiled as soon as she saw me. She abandoned her punching bag, which fell off of its ring, and came up to me.

"Hi there!" The girl reached my side and smiled at me. "You must be Eira Helaine. Fantina sent me word about you coming here next for my badge."

I tilted my head at her. "You know me?"

"Yeah, it's a thing we do between gym leaders; we send lists of people that beat us daily to the next gym leader in line, but we'll also send a video and some information we noticed about them if we found them to be a strong battler. I got a whole file on you from your last three battles with the others, and I can't tell you how excited I am to battle you, but first… can I meet your buneary?"

I blinked at her in confusion. "…Excuse me?"

"I want to meet Bouncy, your buneary." Maylene's eyes shined as she looked at me, but memories seemed to be filtering through her eyes. "I was so excited and proud when I saw just how determined she was to do all she could before she collapsed from exhaustion. She's a proud little pokemon that should be an inspiration to pokemon anywhere that you can improve and get stronger with hard work. She's like a little role model!"

I blinked at her a few more times before I nodded silently to her. Bouncy was quick to appear out of her pokeball and Bouncy up into my arms while her sisters and brother appeared quickly by my side as well. They crowded around me, Elecky curling into my leg and Magma and Bubbly standing before me almost like guards. Maylene looked at all of them before her eyes landed on Bouncy, who was smiling and trying to reach over my arms at Elecky as they talked between each other.

"Oh you're so cute!" Maylene gushed and Bouncy looked up at her, along with the others. Maylene reached toward her and touched her head soothingly, rubbing the side of my pokemon's head happily. "I don't know if you realize how amazing you are little buneary. I watched you last gym match that you were in and it was so incredible!"

"Bun bun bun!" My pokemon cheered and jumped out of my arms and into Maylene's. She happily snuggled with my pokemon for a moment before passing her back over to me. Bouncy stayed in my arms this time and the young woman stepped back.

"I'm so excited to battle you and see how well we both do. Who am I facing first?"

"Lux!" Elecky rushed out first and grinned at the gym leader. "Lux!"

"Alright, then let's get this started then!" She motioned me to follow her. "This way to the battlefield!"

I was led away from the training room she had managed to be in before. In the room behind it there was her battle field. I noticed that there were two men using it at the moment before they saw their gym leader enter. They and their pokemon moved out of the way for us and we took our places on the two different sides of the field.

"Alright then Eira, I'm ready whenever you are!" Maylene pulled out a pokeball and threw it out. "Let's go medidite!"

I was met with the special psychic and fighting type pokemon that was tan and blue in color. Its eyes were closed as it waited for its trainer to give it orders for the fight. I watched it carefully and Elecky growled at it as she made her way onto the field.

"Alright now, first move to the challenger." Maylene waved her hand at me and I smiled at her.

"Shock wave." Elecky grinned and gathered energy before her mouth and shot it at the other pokemon. My eyes widened, however, when the pokemon moved faster than lighting to avoid it. Elecky yelped in shock before growling harsher.

"Detect." Maylene grinned as she looked at my pokemon.

I huffed as a quick little plan came to mind. "Thunderbolt on the ground."

My pokemon grinned and nodded, instantly throwing her electrical energy into the ground and the pokemon was forced to use it psychic powers instead of its evading attack. I grinned as things fell into place. "Crunch."

Elecky leapt forward and sunk her teeth into the pokemon's abdomen. It cried out in pain before Elecky threw it back toward Maylene and it forced itself to get back up.

I motioned for her to come at me. "Ready?"

Elecky rushed at it again.

 **Cameron's Point of View:**

I was walking the streets of the city and doing my best to enjoy myself, but it was hard with the crying bundle of baby pokemon in my arms. Little Cleffa that I'd gotten on my team from Mt. Cornet was crying because I wasn't paying attention to her, and she couldn't focus, or didn't want to, on the area around us. It was frustrating because all I wanted to do was enjoy some of the area, but my newest pokemon was proving that to be a problem and hassle.

"Oh come on Cleffa… what do you want from me? I'm holding you already and if you keep crying, we're not going to enjoy this trip…"

She continued to cry. She held herself close to me and I could only hold her close and soothingly rub her back. It was only then that she began to quite down and her cries stopped ringing in my ears.

"There you go girl… that's right, just calm down… I've got you right here…" It was hard, I felt like I was a teenaged parent that was taking care of a baby, and basically, I was. I didn't know what to do, but I bet the professor and Eira could tell me instantly. Eira just had a knack for knowing what was wrong and the professor pretty much did know it all.

But I was still just learning and I had no idea what to do in some instances, such as this one. But Cleffa was finally calming down and it made me let out a sigh I'd been holding.

"Are you hungry at all Cleffa? You want some milk?" The little baby pokemon looked up at me and it was then that I heard a rumble from her little tummy. I sighed _. I should have known… I'm such an idiot when it comes to these things. I should take a class with the day care people._

"Hang on sweetheart, let me get some out of my bag for you." Thank Arceus I put some in my bag… I quickly reached into my bag where I had a small lunch box with some ice packs to keep some stuff cold for me. I pulled out the milk and some snacks that I knew she liked and found a bench to sit at while I took care of her.

She sat herself in my lap and I held up the bottle for her. She quickly latched on to suck down the nutrient filled beverage and soon her tears began to dry up. I sighed once I saw this and gently petted her head.

"I'm so sorry about that Cleffa…" I sighed. "I guess I'm still trying to get used to the parent thing… but I'll try to be better from now on with taking care of you, okay?"

"Clef…" She sniffled up at me and nodded before curing into my stomach. She eagerly reached for the snacks and munched while my other team members popped out. My active team members were Monferno, Mothim, Bronzor and Cleffa. Now, Cleffa I would have preferred to leave the with professor, since he was much more adapt to take care of younger pokemon, but against what I thought would be better, Cleffa stuck right to me, refusing to leave my side once she found me. The professor believed it might have been that its parents were scared away from the area or were captured by trainers, leaving the egg of my cleffa all alone until she hatched. The professor said she imprinted on me as a parent when she saw me and that's why she's so afraid to leave my side.

I felt bad for the little pokemon and took her in under my wing. But it also made me nervous. Cleffa was just a baby… anything could happen to her… and I wasn't a good role model for her in anything…

"Alright, let's get going then." I stretched from the bench I was on and looked down to the only female member of my team. "You ready to go Cleffa?"

"Clef!" She ate the last bite of her snack before she tugged on my shirt. I smiled and threw away the trash in the container next to me and picked her up.

"Alright then, let's check out the water and maybe we'll see something cool." Cleffa cheered and I carried her over into that direction. There were a few warehouses in the area that seemed to belong to some of the big companies here. We passed by them and headed toward where the railing was and I leaned a bit against it while Cleffa looked out at the sparkling water. She cheered and tried to jump out of my arms, but my grip wouldn't loosen on her.

"Oh no you don't Cleffa." I shook my head at the baby pokemon. "You know better."

"Clef?" She looked up at me in question and I could only shake my head at her.

"You goof…" I rubbed her head affectionately and she squealed in delight. Now this was more like normal…

It was all a blur after that. I suddenly remembered being slammed into and my head hit. I curled my body around my pokemon, but she was still ripped from my arms. I could hear her screaming, but my body was robbed and numb before my other pokemon could come to my rescue.

I held out a hand, watching shady figures take my pokemon… and I couldn't do anything…

 **Eira's Point of View:**

"Machoke!" Maylene called out to her pokemon as it was thrown around the field. Elecky was having a field day as she really got to go all out with these ruthless fighting types. She had already defeated the first pokemon, the meditite, and now was playing with the machoke. We had easily defeated it and were trying to make our way to the last pokemon.

In the time frame between the two pokemon battling, Parker had managed to show up after I'd left earlier this morning when he and Cameron had been arguing. He was cheering me on from in the stands, excited with the way the large and muscular pokemon was failing terribly against my electric type.

"Thunder fang." I grinned as my pokemon launched herself forward and latched her teeth into the other pokemon as it was shocked for Arceus only knows how many times. I watched as it screamed out and fell to the ground, its body no longer blue in hue, but brown from the electrical burns.

When it hit the ground, Elecky cheered, but flinched a bit from her own wounds. She'd faired extremely well in these last couple fights, but the last two pokemon had managed to get some good moves in, which reduced her energy and limited her a bit, but she was still pushing strong.

"Damn it…" Maylene cursed as she looked back over at me. "Man are you good Eira… I didn't even think this would be so one sided when you came to this gym, but I guess I read you wrong. You're extremely strong, even for a young trainer. However," her eyes narrowed. "That will change with this last pokemon of mine."

I blinked at her in question before I narrowed my eyes at her. _What pokemon would she send my way? What fighting type could take out Elecky easily or could be that powerful?_

My silent questions were answered. Her last pokemon was returned and the final pokemon standing between me and my badge was revealed. It was a medium sized pokemon of blue colored fur. The fur changed to a light tan color when it got to its chest, but a spike was hanging out of the center of it as well as the back of its paws as well. A thick black band of sorts seemed to be tied around its arms and legs where the fur color changed and around its face, like a mask. It had a blue tail come out behind it and red eyes that bore into me.

I could feel the power rolling off of this pokemon… I would have to be careful when facing it. What even is it? I pulled out my pokedex and pointed it at the creature.

 _Lucario, the aura pokemon and the evolved form of riolu. A well trained one can sense auras to identify and take in the feelings of creatures over half a mile away. It's said that no foe can remain invisible to lucario, since it can detect auras. Even foes it could not otherwise see. There are no known lucario nests in this region._

 _Oh… now I see what she means… fighting and_ _ **steel**_ _type…_ _Elecky will have a hard time with this one…_

"Now Lucario!" Maylene throw out her arm to get a head start on me. "Start out with bone rush!"

I watched then as the pokemon crafted a glowing brown bone in its hand and chucked it in Elecky's direction. She easily jumped out of the way, but we were both shocked to see that the attack followed after her and hit her in the stomach. It slammed into her and I saw her body curve around it before she herself was hurled into the ceiling above. I was shocked and my eyes widened, mouth agape, as I looked to see her taken out in a single move as she landed before me.

 _And it knows ground type moves too… how do you fighting against that? I looked back at my remaining team. Magma would be the type advantage to this guy, but I promised Bubbly that she could go in next… at least she wouldn't be hurt by the ground type moves, but then there's still steel and fighting and Arcues knows what other moves…_

I sighed as I returned Elecky, knowing she'd be fine later with some rest. "Let's go Bubbly."

My mind would not be changed, even with all considered. I knew it was risky, but it was for Bubbly. It was her choice and it wasn't fair to let Magma go first when I promised her.

"Prin!" Bubbly jumped out onto the field and grinned at her opponent. I would have to be careful in this battlefield, but it's not like Bubbly would take the caution I am, so we just have to go all out…

"Drill peck!" Bubbly rushed forward, spinning her beak and shooting her body to the opposing pokemon.

"Force palm!" Maylene cried out. The lucario growled and leapt at it shot its glowing palm at my pokemon, directly hitting her in the face, but it did little to redirect her. Bubbly cried out and pushed through its attack to hit its shoulder. It cried out and was thrown back, but managed to still stay on its feet while its red eyes glowed at us in anger.

"Metal claw!" I shouted and Bubbly rushed to the other side.

"You use metal claw too Lucario!" Both pokemon met at the middle of the battlefield and started to strike at each other with metal claw attacks on either side. Both of them seemed to be well matched other than the few hits each managed to get in on the other. I watched as Bubbly took one to the gut before she upper cut it under the jaw. The both cried out with the hits, but not more than when Bubbly reached past the pokemon and grabbed its tail. It screeched out before she grabbed and threw it into a wall by swinging on the sensitive nerves back there.

"You dirty fighter!" Maylene cried out. "How could you grab his tail?"

"It's not playing dirty, the rule of battle is to beat you, but any means necessary other then death." I glanced at her while trying to control the beating in my veins I could hear and feel. "Yes, I didn't quite agree with that method myself, but Bubbly isn't like me. She doesn't mind."

Bubbly just grinned at the girl before she was incased in a bright light. Maylene watched in horror as my pokemon grew even taller than before. She was taller than me, probably at nearly six foot. Her body looked like it was covered in a thick armor now with two plates spitting over her chest and a crown of sorts on her head. When the light broke, I saw my pokemon was no longer light blue, but a dark midnight blue color. Large, sharp fins were used as her arms while her webbed feet were still the same. Her beak was what extended into what I thought was the crown she was wearing on her head. Her eyes glanced back at me while I smiled at her in approval. She grinned and looked back to the lucario that was slowly rising from the wall.

I pulled out my pokedex to see what my pokemon had become. _Empoleon, the emperor pokemon and the evolved form of prinplup. The three horns that extend from its beak attest to its power. The leader has the biggest horns. It swims as fast as a jet boat. The edges of its wings are sharp and can slice apart drifting ice. It avoids unnecessary disputes, but it will decimate anything that threatens its pride. There are no known empoleon nests in the region._

Maylene looked on in fear at my newly evolved pokemon. Even if Bubbly was now at a disadvantage to her, we already had this fight in our hands. It was just finishing it up that needed to be done.

"Finish this Bubbly. Hydro pump." My pokemon grinned, opening her eyes to show me the ocean blue irises now that glowed in excitement. She opened her beak and out came a roaring wave that crashed into the lucario's barely standing body. It fell over from the wave and in the water was when it finally dropped. I watched Maylene pout as she watched her pokemon fall, before sighing and returning him.

"Well, your right about that. You won alright, and fought by all the regular rules." She smiled lightly. "I think I owe you a badge."

I nodded to the gym leader. Bubbly approached at my side and I looked as she towered over me. She patted my head happily and I smiled at her with pride. She loved that.

I was handed then a small badge that looked like a block of buildings seen from the air. The edges were outlined in silver while the squares themselves were an orangey brown. "This is the cobble badge. And from what I've heard, it's also your fourth." She patted my shoulder. "You're halfway there."

"Thank you." I nodded to her. Before either of us could say more, my poketch went off and I accepted the call from Cameron. "Hello?"

" _Eira… help…_ " My eyes widened and I looked to Parker in worry as he rushed to my side. " _Cleffa… pokedex… stolen… docks…_ "

"Hang in there Cam, we're on our way!" I nodded quickly before the two of us ran out, not waiting for Maylene when she shouted for us.

 _Please hang in there Cameron…_ I silently prayed.

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Oh no! Poor Cleffa! What's going to happen to her and Cameron's stolen pokdex? How bad is Eira and Parker going to destroy stuff for their friend? Especially with a recently evolved empoleon on their hands? Oh this will not be good… at least not for the bad guys… He he…**

 **Anyway people, like always, please don't forget to Review, send in Questions, and all the above! We love you and we're really starting to get into this story a lot! Looking forward to the next chapter!**

 **See you guys next Saturday!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	16. Stolen Pokedex

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 16: Stolen Pokedex?_

 **Eira's Point of View:**

I don't think I ever ran so much in my entire life. Even with a best friend like Parker at my side, I never ran like I had today. But my feet were flying before one another, hardly waiting on the other as Parker and I rushed to the docks to find Cameron and then find his pokemon and pokedex of which were stolen from him. But we had to find him first or we can't know any information in order to help out Cleffa.

I heard Parker shouting behind me, trying to get me to stay in his sights, but I kept running, ignoring his calls. I knew well enough that Parker couldn't lose sight of me if he tried. He was one to keep his eye on me all the time due to how I grew up and the way I act. He knew that if he took his eyes off of me for even a moment, something terrible could happen, such as my panic attacks, or someone getting too close to myself. Parker never took any chances, because he knew as well as I did that if I was left out of check, something terrible would happen.

I rounded so many corners before the docks finally came into my view. When I saw them, my body halted only for a moment to look upon the cemented ground for Cameron. He sounded weak over the phone, drained of energy or hurt. He could be slumped up against the side of a building or laying flat on the ground or near the water for all we know. Maybe inside a building?

Once I saw that this part was clear, I moved again. Parker was right on my heels and caught up with me soon enough. He placed a hand on my shoulder while I checked another area to catch his breath before we were off and moving all over again. We rounded nearly five buildings and twelve intersections before we found him.

Cameron was right near the ocean; one of his arms was hanging loosely over the edge toward the water that was only a few feet below where he was. Parker swore while the two of us raced to him and pulled back to switch him to his back. He flinched in pain as we did so and I watched his eyes lightly open.

"Parker…? Eira…?" His words were quiet and questioning, much unlike his normal self. I watched him try to sit up and he instantly reached for his head.

"Whoa there Cam, I think you got hit in the head with something." Parker held him back and looked on our friend's head. "Here, we got a blood spot. I think he got hit with a pipe or something."

"Cleffa…" Cameron totally ignored Parker and looked around for the little female pokemon that gave him so much joy. "Where… is she…?"

"We just got here…" I put his arm over my shoulder and slowly helped him to his feet. "We're going to find her."

"Cleffa…" Cameron hardly heard me other then the fact that we hadn't found her yet. "Find… Cleffa…"

"Yeah, let's go find her." Parker hurried under his other arm helped him up. With both of us supporting him, our pokemon quickly came out of their pokeballs, even Elecky showed up, battered and brused beyond what she could handle from the gym battle. We didn't have time to stop and heal her, so she was dealing with many painful wounds over her body. I had no pokemon that could heal on my team…

"Eira, let Grotle heal Elecky so she can help us." I glanced at my best friend before I nodded to him. Grotle appeared before my electric type and preformed synthesis on her. My pokemon sighed as the pain slowly faded and the painful wound covering her abdomen vanished and she could move better. She nodded her head in appreciation before she rushed off with the others. They were using their sense in order to find Cleffa's scent or hear her cries, but it was hard for them to hear anything over the waves or the equipment that was being used to move items and large crates around the docks.

"Lux!" Elecky cried out and rushed toward a set of buildings toward the middle of the docks.

"Monferno! Come carry Cam!" The fire type quickly picked up his trainer on his back so that Parker and I could run after my pokemon that was crying out to give us her location while she followed Cleffa's scent.

It wasn't long before we ended up before a set of doors of a warehouse. It was guarded by two men who held out pokeballs ready to attack my pokemon. The rest of my pokemon stopped behind her and growled at them too and it was only then when a large group of our pokemon showed up that those men finally freaked out and turned to run inside. I held Bouncy close to me once we got to the building's doors after the last time I'd let her run loose by herself. I was too fearful to leave her alone. Especially now that little Cleffa was kidnapped…

We walked through the wide open doors now to see the dark, depressing warehouse on the inside that was filled to the brim with Team Galactic grunts. As soon as they saw the three of us, all hell broke loose with pokemon being hurled in our direction to keep us from getting further into the warehouse.

"Attack." My order rang and my pokemon lashed out (other than Bouncy who I kept a death grip on, even if she wanted to keep fighting.) I rushed forward after my pokemon, feeling the guilt and anger well up inside of my body.

Cleffa was nothing more than a baby, one that Cameron took good care of (even if he complained about it.) He loved her, regardless of how much trouble she managed to get him or herself into with her childish tendencies. She was precious to all of us and it would be a cold day in hell when we would abandon her.

We wouldn't stop until she was safely back with her trainer.

I cried out as I felt my arm grabbed and everything went still then. A Galactic grunt had latched her fingers into my arm and I flinched from the pain in felt from her long finger nails.

"Bun!" Bouncy leapt from my arms, now free of both my arms, she jumped from my single arm and slammed her body into the grunt. She cried out as Bouncy shoved her off of me and kicked her in the head, sending her flying into the wall across from the room. When her body hit, I heard some pokemon cry out and it made me turn my head in that direction.

"Bouncy!" My pokemon quickly rushed into my arms and we hurried over to where we heard the cry. Once I turned the corner around where some metal containers were, my eyes widened when I saw what was before me.

Pokemon were trapped in cages for nearly a mile or two of space before us. My eyes widened as I looked to see some of their conditions, many of them were unfit to move with the bruises and filth over them from being trapped in cages for so long. They cried when they saw me, it was terrible to hear.

"Bouncy, break them out!" My heart wrenched as I kept looking around at the cages that surrounded me. It was horrific. My normal type cried in my arms before she screeched and attacked the cage doors. She had become stronger since the last time we took on a task like this, she still had some trouble, but she was able to break in the cage doors and allowed for the pokemon to flee.

"Run!" My order rang when the doors opened. Pokemon injured or not, fled as fast as they could, some needing assistance from others. I watched them rush out before I turned back to see Bouncy working on the last cage, and having some difficulty with it.

I hurried over to her, but halted and gasped with what I saw. It was Cleffa. She wasn't crying out because she had been beaten in unconsciousness, most likely from calling out for Cameron. Tear stains still littered down her face and the thin pink fur on her body was wild and torn. They hadn't been kind with her… They beat up a child… a baby…

It made my blood run even more. I could barely suppress the crying and screams that fought to escape my mouth as I looked at her. Every moment was more grave and painful then the next, like I was being dragged under the water and feeling the fire in my chest as I fought to breathe, but there was no air…

"Eira!" I heard Parker come up behind me, he was racing to keep up with myself, not sure of what would happen while we searched for Cleffa. He came up to me and patted my shoulder, but I wouldn't move. When my silence reached him, he dared to look at what was before me. His eyes widened at the sight of baby Cleffa beaten, a little one that we all treasured and cared for, even if she wasn't our pokemon. "Oh my Arceus…"

My teeth I felt grit into one another, my palms were covered in a cold sweat and I could feel my bones locking as they clenched so hard in my hands.

"ELECKY! BUBBLY! MAGMA!" Parker jumped back from me in fear as my voice reached some of the highest levels they ever had. My voice pierced through the air and everything went still. "SHOW THEM NO MERCY!"

It was like a switch went off, everything had changed then. From what was just getting the grunts out of the way to try and find our friend and save the other pokemon had turned into a blood fest. I could hear as the blood coated the walls from many Galactic members that dared to take on my team.

"Eira! You need to calm down!" Parker was shouting next to me as he desperately tried to call off the attack and massacre I just ensured in this area. "You're going to kill someone! Come on Eira! I know this isn't you!"

Parker's words still fell deaf on my ears as all I could do was stair at Cleffa in anger. How could they do this to her? Why Cleffa? She was just a baby... She didn't need to be hurt... She didn't do anything wrong...

 _Just like me..._

I connected my pain to that off Cleffa's. She was suffering the same way that I was when I was little girl. Maybe not in the sense that I was beaten, but it still hurt, she didn't do anything to deserve this. Seeing her suffering ignited the fire inside of me to do anything to show these people that they couldn't just do that. My blood ached for vengeance. Poor Parker was the victim of seeing this way too many times.

 _But he was right... I couldn't become the monster that they were._

I'll admit it, I'm afraid of myself. The suffering was so hard, I locked away all of my emotions, so now that I'm dealing with them, I don't know how to control them. It's terrifying to me as well. I hate seeing myself like this and knowing what I'm capable of, or that my pokemon are willing to follow my orders to the tee. I'm grateful to have them, but I almost wish they would disobey me when it came to be these orders.

I suddenly felt someone come up behind me. A hand fell on my shoulder and I dared to look back. Violet stood there behind me, her eyes filled with sadness. She was worried for me; she could see the fear in my eyes as I finally came to in this situation.

Violet gently pushed me in the direction of Parker and he took hold of me. In his arms I shook, the fear of what I had done radiating off my body. Violet gently rubbed my cheek, a soft smile on her face just to show me that it would be okay. She grabbed onto the bars of Cleffa's cage and ripped them open. Violet took the tiny pokemon into her arms and instantly healed her.

With the normal type healed now, I was handed the pokemon. Violet's eyes assured me that it would be okay, so I nervously took her. Parker still had a grip on me, but it had loosened at the look the champion gave him.

I saw Cleffa slowly open her eyes before she looked around and then up to me with the tears rolling down my face. "Hey Cleffa... you're okay now... We're going to take you back to your daddy, okay?"

It was as if she had remembered it all when I mentioned him. The tears started to well up in her eyes and she began to sob. Only a moment later she burst into tears and cried out into the air, calling for Cameron. I'm sure he could hear her, his wounds to his head probably heal with the help of other members of the league, I'm sure Violet wasn't the only one here...

I carried her back out into the other room with the two others following behind me. Bouncy had landed herself on my shoulder, watching me carefully. She was more than worried about me after all that had happened. Even if she also followed those orders, she still had to deal with the aftermath of me being upset with myself.

"I know your upset with yourself," Violet finally spoke, "but don't be too harsh. Anyone would have gone to the same lengths that you did to get back something that was very precious to you. You are not the only one who has done things like this, and you won't be the last." She stepped back for a moment to give me some space. "Do you want to go rest for a bit?"

I could only nod to her. When she got the answer she was looking for, she led me back to the pokemon center. Parker got me squared away in my room after we had given Cleffa back to Cameron. The little pokemon had cried in his arms and he refused to let go of her. I went back up into my room and crawled into bed. My four pokemon crowded around me and I drifted off asleep, knowing full well that Shadow would be there to help me out with this when I arrived.

 **Parker's Point of View:**

With Eira taken care of and away in bed and resting since we returned, Violet stood with Cam and I along with her boyfriend Alexander (who told us to call him Alex or he would murder us in our sleep.) I held my head while the other three stood about the conference room that Violet had booked in the pokemon center for us to use and have privacy without disturbing Eira.

"What happened in there Parker?" Violet only dared to ask me once the door was closed and locked. I was still shaking over the way Eira just changed in the span of a few seconds from worried, to angry, to merciless…

"She lost control… Cameron was at the docks and while he was there, Cleffa and his pokedex were stolen. He managed to call us and tell us where he was, but… when we got there, we started to tear apart the warehouse and Eira found the trapped pokemon. Of course that made her mad, but seeing Cleffa caged, beaten and unconscious threw her over the edge." I sighed as the imaging I saw when I stood next to her in the chaos. "Eira connects easily to those that have been hurt and are suffering and it wasn't their fault. She feels a connections to them and it sends her into a frenzy of emotions that she's never felt before and doesn't know how to control… She's never known how to control these emotions since she shut down when she was young."

"Does this happen often?" Alex questioned as he looked between my solemn self and Cameron who was fussing over his baby pokemon that was safely in his arms and sleeping now.

"No… it never did." I shook my head and ran a hand through my blond locks. "This only started happening once we started our journeys and met Team Galactic. Her father didn't help either… but… her first attack… if I had to guess… was when Bouncy was attacked in Eterna Forest… and now it's been happening more often since then…"

"Another ticking time bomb… great…" Violet sighed. "Just like Jez all over again…"

"What?" I blinked up at the woman.

She grinned lightly at me, ruffling my hair in the process. "Believe it or not, Jezebel was just like Eira, but just not so quiet. She closed off all her emotions and didn't let others in because she never got the chance to or she was ripped away from those that she cared about. When she started her journey, she beat the crap out of the bad guys in her region, yelled, screamed, you name it, it happened. She even lost so much control that she became a changeling for the first time with five different forms and nearly destroyed Mossdeep Island. We've seen this a bit before, and as much as it sucks… all we can do is help her out along the way. She needs to continue on this path or else she'll never move past where she stuck in life."

"I know…" I lowered my head again. "It just hurts so much… I hate seeing her afraid of herself after she loses control…"

"It's not fun for us to see either… her control over pokemon is incredible, even if they're not her own." Violet clicked her tongue as I watched her think. "What is the plan next?"

"Well…" I had to think about that myself. "I have a gym battle here to win… then we'll head to Pastoria for the gym and stay there for a month for the Grand Festival as well as Christmas. Our families are going to meet us out there. After that… I'm not sure other than the other gym leaders and deal with Team Galactic as we go."

"Good, that's a solid plan." Alex shook my shoulder to get me to look at him. "Here, go and battle the gym leader, we'll stay here with Eira and Cameron and keep them safe while you're gone. Nothing will happen. And you need to get your mind off of this a bit."

I nodded to the man behind me as he helped me to my feet. Once I was steady, I took one last look at Cameron who also stood up.

"I think I'm going to take a page from Eira's book and take a nap too… I feel exhausted…"

"Go ahead." Violet motioned for him to head out. "We'll be right behind you after we discuss a few things between each other. Go and get some rest Cameron, and Parker? Try to have some fun at that gym battle."

I nodded to her and Cameron and I walked out of the conference room. With a single nod to each other, we both took off to our respected destinations for our desired actions.

 **Violet's Point of View:**

" _We've managed to get the area on lockdown and look through what was here._ " Gwyn was updating me on the situation over at the warehouse once we got the three kids out of there. " _Eira did quite a bit of damage, but all the grunts managed to get away. I'm going to assume that you're right and there might be a hideout here in the city, but we can't be sure of it yet. Eira wreaked the place pretty well and a lot of areas collapsed from how out of control her pokemon were._ "

"We'll figure out something Gwyn, have either of you two located anything of importance yet?"

" _No… Jez and Looker are still combing through the rubble, the only things we've really been able to make out here were lots of pokemon cages, which Eira set free what was inside, and crates filled of pokeballs, most likely to capture any pokemon that they needed for manual labor for whatever their operation is. No commanders were here, no basis of orders other then keep things quiet and under control. We have nothing right now Violet…_ "

"It's alright Gwyn, it's not anyone's fault by my own. I should have come back sooner." I sighed. "At least the kids are safe. None of the police knows she was involved right?"

" _No, we kept the kids pretty well safe, no officers asked or saw them, so I think we're okay, but I'll make sure to get their stories to match if they're questioned as well._ "

"Good, let me know if you find anything else or when you're done searching through the building. We'll stick around here and watch the kids. Send someone out to the gym however, just to keep an eye on Parker from a distance. I don't want someone to ruin his fun at the gym that could cheer him up after what's happened."

" _Understood, see you later Vi._ "

The line cut then and I could only groan as I looked back to my boyfriend with a guilty look to his face. It was because we were so obsessed with ourselves that this managed to happen and Eira wasn't helped or taken care of.

"Vi… I'm sorry…" He groaned and glared at his hands as if they were his own worst enemy. "Damn hormones…"

"It's both our faults… I wanted it just as badly as you did…" I shook my head at him before taking his head in my hands, forcing him to look at me. "But we couldn't have seen this happening, but now we can make sure it doesn't happen again or at least be there to help calm her down."

"Right…" Alex nodded his head slowly to before placing a kiss to my nose. "Still, I loved my anniversary present."

"I hoped you would." I smiled at him while he pulled back the side of my jacket and pulled down a bit of my shirt. Under it was a thin, black outline of his name in cursive just on the top of one of my breasts. I planned for when children came into our lives that their names would be added to my body as well. But that would come in future years, not now.

But it didn't hurt to get a head start.

"Come on." I pulled him out of the conference room. "We should go keep an eye on the kids."

"Right," he nodded, following obediently after me.

Though I can't say I didn't enjoy it when he stopped me and kissed me hard just outside the door.

I sighed. _I loved it when he was very_ _ **disobedient**_ _too…_

 **Rosalie's Point of View:**

I stood inside the Galatic HQ building looking at the warehouse that was destroyed in interest. There was going to be another one like Violet and her friends, that young one was involved with freeing all the pokemon that were captured down there. Yet… I had no idea where this one was. Violet had done an incredible job with hiding her from me.

But I would find her, and when I did, I would kill her.

There would be no safe location for this child, no place where she could become strong before I reach her. I would find her and end her…

"Miss Rosalie," I turned my head that addressed at me. I saw the third of the commanders standing before me, Saturn was his name. I noted on his looks as he watched me. While I may have been a superior, he still tended to go against me. It was hard to admit that I did and didn't like it. Much like when I would taunt my husband all those years ago. "Our leader is waiting for you. He needs you to pin point where the locations of the three beings of emotion would best be located and how to capture them. Our plans will be going into motion soon."

 _Excellent…_ I walked past the young man as I approached Cyrus' office. I knocked once and the man let me in. He stood there in a nearly black room, only illuminated by small lights or black lights. His eyes were still as dull as they were when I met him for the first time eight years ago, before he got out of the hospital and I made him my servant…

"Shall we begin?" His voice was not alive, nor has it been or should it be.

He was the perfect tool…

 _Yes… we have much to do… and little time to do it before Violet and her group find us…_

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Oh shit… did she just say what I think she just said? Did she just give away another piece to the puzzle? If you didn't see it then I don't want to say it! It will all become clear in enough time people, but now we must get on with more of the story!**

 **Like always, I hoping for Reviews and Questions from everyone! I'm excited to see what everyone thinks of how Eira reacted today and went crazy! Who loved it, who was afraid? I want to know!**

 **Love you all and see you next week!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	17. Master & Pupil

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 17: Master & Pupil?_

 **Eira's Point of View:**

Once Parker had received his badge from Maylene, we decided to take our trip south to Pastoria. On the way there, we managed to stop at a resort for a little while and relax for a bit to forget about most of our experiences in Veilstone. Since the incident, Cameron had constantly keep Cleffa in his arms to prevent her from behind taken again and had at least one pokemon near by him, which he didn't need to worry about since his entire team kept near to prevent him and Cleffa from getting hurt again. My team and Parker's also hung closer, but that could just be that the experience made us want to be close to one another.

However, I will still admit that the break we took there was nice. There was an indoor pool that we got to use and soak in as well as some winter activities since the area had frozen, leaves fallen and snow now coated the ground. The entire region was covered in snow now except most of the southern most areas. Being in a colder region all my life, I learned to love the cold at an early age. It was cool and matched my emotions, it was soothing and beautiful. I could watch the snow falling or watching it glitter at sunrise or sunset quite easily.

That's where I was now, by myself (other than my pokemon) and watching the snow fall. It was early morning and I could see the snow falling from the clouds. Behind them I could faintly see the bright glow of the sunrise, meaning that it was about seven or eight in the morning. I was by myself with a steaming cup of my favorite mint tea in my hands.

Bouncy sat in my arms, wrapped up in her own little scarf that she had fallen in love with while we were here. It was a soft lavender in color and fell onto the ground (even after wrapping it around her neck two times) but she didn't care and loved it as it kept her warm.

Magma was the only one really hating the weather at the moment. He stood off to the side with a sour expression and his arms crossed as he glared at the snow, but because I liked it, he put up with it, but after a while he had to ask me to return him to his pokeball. I was okay with that, I had the others and he could rest and stay warm.

Bubbly, in her new form of an empoleon, absolutely _adored_ the cold. Her thick down feathers were covered with sleek waterproof ones over them to keep her warm and to help her use her body as if it was a sled. She used this to her advantage and slid down hills while Elecky was running at her side.

Elecky on the other hand was so excited to play in the snow with friends. She and Bubbly were racing each other in the snow and throwing snowballs at each other. She managed to do so with her head by throwing it that way at Bubbly, but that just slid off of Bubbly's body and made Elecky work harder to take her down.

While the four of them did their own thing, I was within my own thoughts, truly absent of the world as my mind traveled back to where I had lost control in the past and the harm that I had caused to others and how much it scared me.

There were three different times that I had lost control and my pokemon had followed the same path with me. The first… when Bouncy was attacked in Eterna Forest. The second… was in the city of Eterna against Jupiter. The third… and worst… was after seeing Cleffa… beaten… I knew that I had every right to have snapped and attacked as I did. I know that the others don't blame me for it and don't think it's my fault.

But that doesn't mean it's the same for me… how could I forgive myself for the harm that I've caused others… Should I have even become a trainer?

But then… if I hadn't… what would have happened to the others if I wasn't there to protect them… Bubbly… Elecky… Magma… Bouncy… Cleffa… Cameron… Even Parker…

What was the right thing to do? Quit while I was at this point? I'd already made it so far in my journey, nearly half way and made it into the Grand Festival… I could always drop out… I could stay away…

Or should I keep going? Do I dare test the hands of fate and make sure I'm at their sides and protect them? What about Shadow? I still haven't managed to figure out how I'm exactly tied in together with her and why I can see her other then she "chose me".

What else is there in store for us?

"Eira!"

I lifted my head to see Parker running toward me. His winter clothes covering his body were a thick winter jacket or orange color with his green scarf hanging out of it, whipping behind him and boots on his feet. His hands were shoved in his pockets to keep them warm since he didn't like gloves much.

"Hey, I've been looking all over for you." He planted himself next to me and rubbed my back slowly. "What's wrong?"

"Just… thinking…" I lowered my head and I felt him pull me a little closer to him.

"About what you did?" he questioned me nervously.

I nodded to him.

"Eira…" I heard him sigh, but I didn't look at him.

"Should… I stop being a trainer?" I felt my friend stiffen and my team all turned to me. Magma released himself to stare at me in shock. "I'd still keep my team… but go home… stop being a trainer… not hurt others… anymore…"

Parker was silent as he took in my words. His grip loosened on me and I dared to look at him. His face looked haunted as he remembered exactly what I went through, seeing me from afar as I destroyed and hurt people, even if they are bad…

"How are you supposed to grow as a person if you don't face your own problems?" I blinked at him before I felt his grip come back and it was harder than before, his hand shook and tears welled up in his eyes, threatening to spill over and burn his cold face.

Why was he so worried for me? He's always been worried… but never this worried for what was going on. Was it because I was changing? Was it enough in a good way that he wanted me to keep going? Why was he fighting so hard for me?

"Why do you want me to keep going?"

"Why wouldn't I be concerned about that?" Parker's words hit me hard and made my nearly still heart move for the first time that morning, the numbness fading. "Eira... I know you don't see it, but hear me out. Ever since we started our journey together, you've changed. For the better. And yeah, some bad guys who did stupid things that really hurt you got served. And it scares you. I get that. But you're coming back to _life_..." He stressed that last word like he had to cling to it. "Eira, I haven't seen you like this since before your dad left. And I've been scared for years that I lost you entirely when you shut down. The real you I know is still deep down inside you and is trying to make her way out. She's hurting, that's why you're so upset. But you can't stop it now... Not to mention... Could you really just stop? What if these bad people hurt others, like your mother?" My eyes widened and he looked at me. "Could you live with yourself if anything happened to her or other innocent people?"

I shook my head. He was right, with all those points. I shouldn't stop just because I'm scared...

"Besides," I saw him smile. "You have me. I won't let you go crazy, okay?"  
I nodded to him and curled into his side. He was silent for a bit to let me take all this information in. And it made me smile to know he believed in me that much...

 **Bubbly's Point of View:**

Watching our human converse with her old friend was good. Watching her smile and slowly showing who she really was, it was incredible. When Eira had first mentioned that she might stop being a trainer, I don't think any of us could breathe again until she gave up on that idea.

But regardless, it was easy to see how this was affecting her. Eira had the most incredible control over us that I think I'd ever seen a human and their pokemon. When I was still a young piplup, I refused all trainers, they were so… innocent… perfect… little goodie-goodies, nothing that I was interested in. Sure, I bet some of them did a little wrong thing here and there, but nothing that could interest me out of the lab for any reason.

But Eira was different when I first met her. I could see what isolation had done to her over the years and the coldness that covered her. It wasn't often that I saw someone like that, but what stood out the most was the pain all over her body. It echoed everywhere, it interested me.

I had always wanted a trainer that I knew would want me, but would also need me. Finding a trainer like Eira then had felt like a pipe dream that suddenly came true. In the beginning, I was like a life line for her, something where her emotions could start emerging to. It felt like I was one of the triggers to let her release herself to the world. It was an incredible feeling, as well as an amazing sight. Watching Eira progress as she had from the first day I met her until today was a life of excitement and a roller coaster of emotions for me to feel along with her and my friends… siblings if you would prefer, was amazing. I would lay down my life for any of them… Eira most especially…

"Bubbly… why do you think she's acting like this?" Bouncy was sitting on Elecky's back as she made her way away from Eira to give her some space to talk with Parker. We were all standing off to the side while our poor trainer was calmly talking to him, putting her worried mind to rest.

"She's scared… you've seen the power she has over us and what she has told us to do," I sighed as I looked back at her myself, watching her every movement as Parker took care of her. I found happiness in that and knowing he'd always be there for her, no matter what. "She's afraid that she's going to hurt people worse then she has or kill someone, this is an entirely new side of her compared to where she started."

"Where she started?" Magma questioned in his gruffly voice. . "And where did she start?"

"Numb… void of pain and suffering, but also of emotion." I lowered my eyes. "When I first met Eira, she hardly showed me much emotion other than a little bit of happiness. But as I watched her, when her attention wasn't on me, you could see the signs. Her body radiated negative emotions that she couldn't control, so she kept them hidden, like locked behind what humans called doors, or trapped at the back of a cave. Now it's starting to come out that she's away from that environment that forced her to shut down like that, and that makes her fearful because for years she's known nothing more than to hide and ignore emotions."

"But it isn't a bad thing that this is happening right?" Bouncy asked worriedly.

"No… she needs to open up, but she's scared she's going to hurt people. And I don't blame her. Each time seems to be getting worse. I have no problem with beating the crap out of those evil people that are bothering the innocent. They don't deserve it, but what if we accidently go after the innocent? That's one of the big things she's worried about. And unlike us, Eira doesn't like to hurt others, and while she believes those horrible people should be stopped, she doesn't always like the lengths we gone to stop them."

"So what should we do then Bubbly?" Elecky questioned me as we looked back to the two of them.

I saw Eira smile and it made me feel happy seeing it. "We be there for her and help her when she needs us, no different than we've always done. Just… try a little harder to be there at her side."

"Done." Magma hissed out. We all nodded to what he said kept our eyes on our trainer while she relaxed with her friend. He was good at calming her when she needed it.

"But we should also prepare for our battle, or should I say you Elecky." I looked to her. "It is a water gym after all."

I saw the sparks run all over her body and she grinned madly. "I'm more than ready."

 **Eira's Point of View:**

After a good long while of just enjoying the quiet with my best friend, after he spent so much time trying to make sure I didn't give up on myself, we decided it was best for us to move on and that it would be a good time to face the gym. With it being later in the season now, almost mid December, we would have little time before this entire city would close down for a different event, the Grand Festival.

We would be staying here for Christmas, everyone and their families were coming out not only to see the event and share Christmas together, but also to watch me. It made me have a fuzzy feeling in my heart when I thought about that. …I liked that feeling…

My mother was going to be one of the main judges, along with Fantina, who was taking off a month of time at the gym (I'm so thrilled I already had her gym badge…), Dexter, and a few of mother's other rivals and other winners of the Grand Festival from this region. I also believe that Champion Jezebel planned to be a part of it so the spot light was on her while her co-workers continued to look through the shadows of the area for Team Galactic, since she was a Grand Festival winner as well, even if it was in the Hoenn region where her title belongs to.

We only had a few days left before the week of the Grand Festival would start, which would be the week before Christmas. It would end on Christmas Eve and roll right into another beautiful day. Christmas trees were up all over the place with glowing lights of color and tassel of all colors. Ornaments were hung on the branches and houses everywhere; even I could see the pokemon center and the gym were covered in them.

With it being the height of the tourist and holiday season, we had to hurry before most everything closed down…

The others believed that I should go first when it came gym battle, as a way of cooling off and earning it first (because no one thought it was possible for me to lose with my team for some strange reason…) and so they could learn some of the pokemon and the fighting styles and types that the gym leader would use.

Our opponent was supposed to be the famous wrestler named Crasher Wake Styx, but he normally only goes by Crasher Wake from what we heard. He was a water type trainer so the plan was that Elecky would go first, even if she had participated in the last two gym battles. Magma would get the next one since it was supposed to be a steel type gym. However, it was Elecky's turn this time, and she was more than looking forward to it.

We made it before the gym before long and quickly stepped inside. What I noticed to begin with was how warm it was inside, and humid as well. There were a couple of pools inside the first room that we walked into and I saw swimmers of all kinds that were working in the warm, heated water. We watched them for a few moments before I looked around and saw a larger man to the back with a mask on his face. It was blue in color with small white frills on the side of it, most likely representing waves, while he wore no shirt and ocean blue pants and brown boots. He seemed to take in the sight of us and moved close to us.

"Ha! You kids must be here to challenge me!" The man laughed as he stood before us. "I'm Crasher Wake! Who's going to battle me first?"

"I am." I quietly stepped up before him with Elecky sparking at my side. Bouncy sat in my arms while my other two pokemon were inside their pokeballs, resting and waiting should they be needed.

"Yeah, and I'll be after her!" Parker held up his fist to the man. "You're going down!"

Cameron held up his hands in defense, at least, the one that wasn't holding baby Cleffa. "I'm not battling. I'm a professor's assistant. I just like to learn about pokemon."

"So I at least got two battlers today, that's better than one!" The man laughed again and motioned for us to follow him. "Let me lead you to where my battle field is. We'll be there for a while."

We were led between the few pools that were in the front room that could be seen by the outside world. We passed through the doors he stood before a short while ago and were led through. A battlefield, which was a chunk of land in the middle of a pool with some floating pads hovering in the water, waited before us to be used. I glanced around at the field, thinking how much Bubbly would love this area, besides the fact that it was incredibly warm in there.

"So, you're battling me first girl?" Wake took his place on the other side of the field. "What's your name?"

"Eira," I replied calmly to the excited man.

"Helaine right? I've been expecting you and your friend Parker Demeet for a while now." I nodded to him and he laughed before pounding his chest. "Now face a real gym Helaine! Go Gyarados!"

I blinked as I saw the large creature appear and land in the water below the battlefield. I knew it was there, but it hid under the surface of the water. I watched its dark shadow appear before it faded deep below.

I turned to my side to see my electric type. "Elecky." My pokemon nodded and jumped out onto the field, first using the floating mat to make it over to the stone that sat perfectly in the middle of the large pool like field. I could see why now the size of the pool was so large; it was due to the size of this pokemon that it had to cover this entire area.

"Come on girl! Show me some guts and spirit!" Wake cried from the other side of the field. "Show me some moves!"

"Elecky, thunderbolt." My electric type grinned before her body was coated with electricity and she shot it right at the water where the beast hid itself. We watched as the entirely pool lit up and both water and electricity shot randomly throughout the room. Wake moved out of the way when some came at him while Bubbly appeared to take the hit for me. She was still a water type, but against electricity, it didn't matter much anymore. The steel type she had now made things a lot easier for the two of us.

I watched slowly as the beast seemed to appear from below the water, but I was surprised when it still was awake and kicking, even with its body partially paralyzed below the water. As soon as I saw it lash and roar out, I knew that we would have a real battle in store for us.

"I've trained my pokemon against electric moves like your own. I can't cut out the damage entirely, but I can at least make it harder to deal with them." Wake grinned as he looked to his wounded pokemon.

A smile came to my face and the familiar heat began to coarse through my body. "Then shall we?" I held out a hand before me. "Elecky, thunder fang!"

The energy was pumping now. I could feel the adrenaline moving and egging me on to not hold back. That energy spread and went to that of my other pokemon. I could feel the roaring energy in my water and fire types in their pokeballs while Bouncy was eagerly cheering in my arms at Elecky. My electric type was feeding off my energy and rushed forward with her attack. Her fangs coated thickly in electricity before she latched onto one of the fins on the other pokemon.

The gyarados screeched out as its body was hit once more with an electrical attack. It thrashed violently and threw Elecky's body to the ground. She cried out as her body was flung into the concrete landing in the middle of the battlefield, but at least it wasn't the water where she could drown... unless...

Wake seemed to notice the look on my face and took me seriously because of it. "Keep her away from the water Gyarados!"

The beast cried out and agreed, hurling its tail to prevent Elecky from getting back up. She was smashed once more but the creature cried out when its tail was bitten into by my electric type.

If we managed to get her into the water, it would be over for that pokemon.

"Elecky, to the water!" My pokemon already seemed to have the same plan in mind as she pulled the water type toward her on the stone and jumped over her to get closer to it.

"Throw it back Gyarados!" The water and flying type pokemon threw its tail at my pokemon and chucked her back once more. Elecky slammed into the wall once more and she cried out before shaking herself out of the wall. She flinched for a moment, it seemed that her tail had been caught in the wall that she was yanking a bit on, but it was too sensitive for her to yank out. She tried to turn around and head butted the wall, loosening the rocks to get free.

"Elecky!" My eyes went wide as I watched her struggle. Wake seemed to grin at this.

"Alright! Take it out Gyarados! Hyper beam!"

The large creature sucked in a roaring breath before launching a bright attack at my pokemon. Elecky growled and slammed her body into the wall just in time for her tail to free itself. I shouted at her to move and my pokemon rushed away from the spot, however, the gyarados followed after her. The battlefield crumbled under its attack while it followed my pokemon.

Its attack finally let up when it ran out of breath. It released its attack and was worn for the moment. I smiled at our luck. Elecky grinned.

Wake had a fearful look on its face. "Gyarados! Get out of the water!'

But the pokemon was too tired. It could barely move after using such a powerful attack. I held out my hand and pointed to the water.

"Discharge in the water." Elecky looked at me with a mad look in her eyes before she took off toward the pool. The pokemon was in her way, but it was unable to move from the exhausting move. Elecky dove into the water and disappeared from sight before I saw some sparks in the water. It was only a moment later before the entire pool lit up. The gyarados screamed out in pain before its body slammed into the cement on the sides of the pool. Wake cursed at his luck and returned his pokemon. Elecky climbed out of the pool and shook out her fur coat before grinned at me and then faced our opponent once more.

"You're stronger than I thought." Wake huffed as he pulled out another pokeball. "But I doubt you'll like me after this! Go Quagsire!"

I was surprised then to see another pokemon come out that was blue mostly in body color, with hints of purple spots on its back. Its eyes were small and black with a small fin on its back and a tail out of its back side. Its feet and hands were both webbed and only had three fingers which were all smooth looking. Its body was entirely smooth. I pulled out my pokedex to discover more about it.

 _Quagsire, the water fish pokemon and the evolved form of wooper. This carefree pokemon has an easy-going nature. White swimming, it always bumps into boat hulls. It lies at the river's bottom, waiting for prey to stray into its mouth. Quagsire nests are rare are only seen on route two-twelve._

 _This pokemon… its also a ground type… electric type moves won't work…_ I narrowed my eyes at Wake. He planned for this if electric type people came here to win his gym badge. Sure, he's strong, but that's cutting off Elecky entirely.

"That's so cool!" I blinked and turned back to the stands and noticed that Parker was on his feet and eyes were glowing in excitement. "I can't believe he pulled that on Eira! He was really thinking ahead when it came to electric types!"

"But that pokemon would be at a huge disadvantage to you grotle Parker," Cameron reminded him.

Parker rushed to glare at him and pout. "So? I bet he knows ice type moves to counteract that too!"

I felt the blood boiling in my veins as I watched him take interest in the gym leader on the opposite side of the field. I could see the man blushing lightly under his mask, but tried to keep a normal face. Annoyance filled my being and I watched my pokemon look back to me worriedly as she looked at Parker as well. At his energy and excitement she shook her head.

"Parker?" My two cheerleaders in the stands turned toward me and flinched when they saw my un-amused face. "Please keep you loud thoughts to yourself until this battle is over with, your shouting is bothering me."

Wake seemed pretty startled by the darkness in my voice as I spoke back to Parker. Maybe in my own way I was jealous too if he took too much interest in another. Sure it was nothing more than an interest in the burly man's fighting style and strategies to compare to my own, however, much like Parker wasn't too pleased about myself talking happily with Vincent Vilmos when we met in Hearthrome.

My best friend seemed to instantly quiet down and plop down; mostly with disappointment written on his face with a pout and a glance he continually gave me. I rolled my eyes lightly at his playful behavior before looking back to my opponent.

"Let's continue Elecky… we'll work around this set back."

Elecky purred out into the air before growling at the opponent on the other side of the field. The strange other pokemon looked at us blankly before tilting its head. I blinked a couple times, trying to understand what this pokemon was either trying to do or see the strategy besides the fact that it had an advantage over Elecky.

"Crunch." My pokemon leapt before me and latched onto the other pokemon with her teeth. It was a dark type move, so I knew it would be effective. The pokemon before us suddenly wailed in pain before it lashed back out at Elecky, throwing a punch. My electric type jumped back and was surprised when mud followed after it as the pokemon came toward us. Elecky jumped back well out of reach before the pokemon's eyes appeared to us, glowing red in anger.

My face contorted as I focused on the pokemon and its behavior. It was raging before me. I couldn't understand how such a docile pokemon only moments ago could act like that.

"Quagsire always gets like this." Wake grinned from the other side of the field. "I hope your pokemon can last."

I felt my teeth grit together as I thought about what we could do. We had a lot of issues here; starting with the fact the pokemon had the advantage type over Elecky. Second, was the fact that we couldn't use any electric moves against it. And lastly, it seemed to have a good amount of endurance. It wasn't going to be an easy fight to take this one down.

"Mud shot!" Wake cried out to the air and his pokemon heard it. The ground and water type opened its mouth before a large spray of mud was shot in Elecky's direction.

"Dodge!" Elecky leapt out of the way and started to run. "Ice fang!"

My pokemon dodged the oncoming beam of mud that just wouldn't relent. The pokemon itself kept firing at her in anger and hopes of taking her down. If Elecky was out of the way, then my other pokemon would be nearly helpless against this opponent, especially Magma…

Elecky dove in under the beat, sliding on the fur of her stomach before she made it up under the opponent and pounced up. Her ice covered fangs tore into the neck of the opposing pokemon and I watched as it cried out once more, the ice forming on the skin and fat there, preventing it from moving that part of its body.

"Mud slap!" Wake's cry got the pokemon moving as a mud covered flipper came out of nowhere and slammed down on Elecky. She screamed out as she was crushed to the floor.

"Elecky!" I gasped as she took the hard hit. "Roll!"

She barely had a moment to see another flipper coming at her before she rolled out of the way. I could see the pain in her ribs where she was struck. She was hobbling on the leg closest to the new wound. But still, she was up on all four again and ready to go.

But neither of them moved. I blinked at the battlefield as it seemed to almost go still. I watched Elecky's opponent it seemed to almost bow to her as her head raced up and a roar escaped her lips. I could hear the echo that came from her throat as the cry continued before he body was covered in a white light. Both Wake and I gasped as we watched the electric type of mine grow in size to that of larger then myself. Still on four legs, the mane around her head seemed to get longer. If I had to guess, I could ride on her possibly.

The light broke and I gasped when I looked at her dark form. The dark midnight blue fur she had on her had covered her entire body other than a bit on the sides of her face around her eyes and mouth and halfway down her two back hind legs. The four pointed star was still on the end of her tail and her eyes had changed to that of a red and gold color, two different colors in the iris.

"Elecky… evolved…" I raced to pull out my pokedex to find out more about her. _Luxray, the gleam eyes pokemon and the evolved form of luxio. It can see clearly through walls to track down its prey and seek its lost young. Luxray's ability to see through object comes in handy when it's scouting for danger. There are no known luxray nests in this region._

I watched my pokemon then as she seemed to face around her opponent like it was prey. The other pokemon watched her before its eyes became red again. It threw its own fist at the chunk of ice on its neck, breaking it off, before crying out and rushing at us.

I was so proud of my pokemon as I watched her out on the field. She looked radiant in her full evolution; however, we still had an uphill battle to fight. Elecky had evolved, sure, but the wound to her ribs and the ache she felt in her paw and leg were quite noticeable on her features. She limped on it painfully and looked back at me for a moment. Her eyes were warm as they stared at me, showing that she would be fine.

I nodded to her before my brain started to process what we should do. _The only moves that she could use were ice, normal and dark. She had plenty of electric type moves, but ground negated them. I'd taught her how to use fire fang, but she was against a water opponent. And I'd taught her iron tail... a steel type move that did a good amount of damage, but ground attacks would wipe it out in a second...  
What could we do besides trying to take it down one small hit at a time?_

 _I guess we'll just have to keep chipping away and hope for the best..._

 _The only move that had seemed to do a bit more in damage was the ice type move. And while that normally doesn't work well against water types, Quagsire was also a ground type. And ground types were weak compared to them._ With my plan in mind I looked back up to see the pokemon still rushing at us. His pokemon was flying forward and racing in to mine with mud on its flipper.

"Elecky! Use ice fang on its head!" My pokemon nodded and bound forward. Elecky was faster than the other pokemon and reached it first, sinking her ice cover fangs into the head of the other pokemon this time. It stilled once more like it had before, and again it screamed when the ice covered its head. The pokemon instantly shivered before it slammed its head into the ground, trying to break itself free of the cold. After strike five, it got dizzy and twirled on its feet.

Yes, it worked! I grinned to myself as I watched the pokemon's stability failing.  
"Now Elecky! Finish it off with crunch!" My pokemon nodded before she leapt forward, catching her teeth on the sensitive fin on its back. Once again it screamed and this time, fell to the ground. Elecky backed away, but she was ready if it got back up.

It didn't.

"Well I wasn't expecting that!" Wake whistled before he laughed. "You really are something Helaine. But that pokemon of yours is wounded. I don't think she can handle my last one!"

Before I could even get a chance to reply to remark, Elecky roared out and it shook the entire room. Her voice carried far and Wake's eyes went wide at her. "We appreciate your concern, but Elecky is fine." I smiled and she grinned. "Send out your final pokemon. I'm eager to get my fifth gym badge, as is my friend in the stands."

Wake looked at us for a few moments before he burst out laughing. He was a worthy opponent and seeing him laugh in the match made me happy. "You got me kid! Helaine, you've really got me. So let's see how you face against my old friend! Flotazel, let's go!"

The pokemon I saw next was large in size, nearly as tall as Bubbly was now, but orange in color with a tan stomach and blue fins attached to its hands. Its eyes were black and lively as it jumped instantly into the water. It swam quickly around Elecky in circles. I pulled out my pokedex for information.

 _Flotazel, the water weseal pokemon and the evolved form of buizel. Its floatation sac developed as a result of pursuing aquatic prey. It can double as a rubber raft. It is a common sight around fishing ports. It is known to rescue people and carry off prey. Flotazel nests are somewhat common and are on routes two-eighteen, two-twenty-one, two-twenty-two, two-twenty-four, two-thirty, around the area of Fuego Ironworks and the Victory Road._

 _It was a more common pokemon._ I blinked up from the device in my hands and looked to the pokemon that continued to circle around my pokemon. _It's so fast… how can it be like that?_

"I'm sure you're wondering about Flotazel's speed right now and why it can move so quickly." Wake pulled me from my thoughts as I looked over to him on the other side of the field. "It's easy enough, this type of pokemon and fast swimmers and are incredible with speed. Their fur is sleek to make them speed through the water faster. Which means that water would be where they are the fastest, but they're still quite agile on land as well." He jerked a finger to my pokemon. "Want to see?"

I stayed silent as Wake seemed to take that as my reply. "Careful Elecky…"

"Lux…" I heard her growl that she'd be find to me.

Everything happened so fast…

In one moment, she was fine, another, her ribs were smashed as the opposing pokemon slammed its body into the underside of her body, encased in a jet stream of water. My pokemon screamed out as her body was beaten and bruised with the one hit, and then the pokemon was gone. Elecky stumbled, but stood her ground while the other pokemon was back into the water no more than a moment later.

Elecky was hurt… and the fact that it was the spot where that last pokemon made a serious hit on her is serious enough to think about taking her out if she takes any more damage… It scared me to see her hurt so much, even if this was a serious battle for our fifth badge.

I was shocked from my thoughts when I heard her cry out once more. Elecky was screaming, the pokemon had burst from the water and attacked her again in that sore spot. Elecky was trying to shield it with her paw, but it didn't seem to make a difference.

"Elecky!" I cried out at my pokemon as she fell to the ground. She was crumpled into a pile of limbs on the ground while the pokemon circled around her. The flotazel I could see grinning in the water as it watched her.

I cursed while I watched my pokemon barely have the strength to get up once more. That flotazel just wouldn't give up on that wound of hers…

It was only then that I saw something glitter in the air. I blinked for a moment and the battlefield seemed to still and slow down as my eyes glanced around to see that there was water _everywhere_ … and no, I didn't mean because of the pool, there was water on the floor, the battlefield, nearly everywhere, even reaching both Wake and my boxes on either sides of the field. I could see it.

 _Elecky… please stand!_ I called out to her and as she slowly reached her feet, though unsteadily. I saw the sparks radiate off her body. She hadn't made a single move and had been kicked around entirely the last part of this match.

But in one move, she would be the victor.

"Discharge!" With my command hanging in the air, Wake suddenly looked around and noticed how the area was entirely covered in water. There was no escape for his pokemon unless it went to the air.

But even that wouldn't be safe with how much of a conduct was around…

"Get out of the water!" Wake's order was followed flawlessly. His pokemon jumped from the water and made its way to hover in the air, but still… the trail of water behind it didn't help it at all…

The shock was finally released from Elecky's body. Her frustration and pain she was able to take out on the opponent. All the water caught hold of her attack and the entire battlefield lit up in electricity. Bubbly once again had to dive before me as a protective barrier from the attack from how out of control it was, and electricity didn't bother her anymore.

The lights in the air were so bright, it was hard to see what exactly was going on other then the attack being let loose. I shielded my eyes until it seemed dark behind the lids of my eyes. I pulled away my hands and peaked out around Bubbly, careful not to touch her, before I noticed how charred and ruined the battlefield was due to the electrical burns all around. I saw that the water hard partly dried up as well before my eyes landed onto the battlefield, right before Elecky. She stood proud, even with her wound, with her head high above the other pokemon at her feet. She grinned back at me before I smiled.

"We won!" My entire team cheered and Bouncy and Magma joined us for our small celebration. Elecky limped over to us and her two comrades helped her stand. "You were so great girl…"

"Not bad Helaine, not bad." I turned my head to see Wake slowly approaching us from the other side of the field, his pokemon seemed already returned to its pokeball. "I believe I owe you a badge for beating me, especially with all the luck and skill you used to get by my three most powerful pokemon. So here," he handed me a small metal. "Here's the fen badge."

I took the small item from his hand and I looked it over. A simple round shape of silver and blue colors looked like water that had a wave crashing at the top of it. I smiled at the resemblance.

"Thank you," I turned to the stands for a moment before I saw Parker racing down. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Parker seems to want to battle next and Elecky needs some medical attention. Then we need to think about preparing for the Grand Festival."

"Oh, you're in that too? You're gonna want all the practice you can kid. Those trainers are a lot like you." I felt the man pat my head before he saw Parker join us, a creepy smile on his face as if he was admiring a hero. "I'll watch him while you do stuff."

Parker cried out against us, but it just caused me to giggle. "Thank you Wake."

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Oh God, I never thought I'd finish that! Oh I'm so happy now! And now I can move onto something I've been looking forward to working on! The chapter that will have some bad guys and some (a lot of) the Grand Festival! Oh I've always wanted to write about this! This will be so much fun, and another chapter about working with contests!**

 **But now I better get to work, see you all next week and don't forget to Review and send in Questions! I love you all and see you next week!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	18. The Wandering Grunt

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 18: The Wandering Grunt_

 **Eira's Point of View (Dream):**

 _I found it quite enjoyable to be with my friends here in the Distorted World that was created and ruled over by Shadow. I'd grow accustomed to the way things moved and the way not everything was as it seemed. This was more or a world that chose its own way to be, not following a certain path as the world I was born in._

 _"Miss Eira! Come on!" I smiled as I looked ahead to Celeste and Rotom who hovered before me, trying to pull me along. Shadow herself was flying around us and the pathways that we were on. Once again we were on the road to the glowing orb. We were so close… there was only a couple of pathways between us and the stone._

 _I could actually make out the details in the stone itself from the distance. It was a multi-dimensional figure that was golden in color. No part of the item was even from what I could see._

 _"Why don't we rest for a moment?" The others looked back at me as we came to a clearing. "I would like to and enjoy how far we've come. From where I started in the beginning of this world to where I met you, Shadow and Rotom and how far we've come along this second path."_

 _"Okay!" Celeste was happy to stop and float a bit back toward myself. "I can't wait to hear how you do in the Grand Festival Miss Eira! They started that tradition a little while after I started coming here, but it's so pretty! I love watching it! The queen plans to let us watch it from here!"_

 _I smiled at the little girl; however, during her light conversation with us, I couldn't help but notice how she avoided talking about her death and tried to use other words to talk about the time when she stopped living. She always had a bit of a haunted eye to it whenever it came up, but for the most part, I tried to not rattled the poor thing by asking her about it._

 _But I couldn't always appeal to that._

 _"-I wish my brother was here to see them too! I think he would have liked them a bit, even if he didn't like battling or anything pretty, but he'd like to see what pokemon moves were able to do! And-"_

 _"Celeste?" The girl stopped her chatting and quickly looked up to me with wide eyes._

 _"Yes Miss Eira?"_

 _"I don't mean to upset you, but if you don't mind me asking, but who is your brother? I think this may be the first time I've heard of you speaking of him."_

 _Her eyes turned dark then and she looked down at her hands. Celeste was quiet, which was something entirely different for the girl that I had grown accustom to as a friend during the last few months. I watched her mumble something under her breath before she looked back to me._

 _"Big brother didn't want me to talk about him… he didn't want people to know about him." She looked up at me. "My big brother left a long time ago. I remember seeing him the night I… died… He whispered to me that everything would be okay if I was quiet. I stayed in my bed, and Big Brother went off, but he came back later… and whispered good bye to me. When I woke up again, I was dead and my brother was gone… the butler was dead too… Rotom was missing for a while… but he came back eventually… but he never wanted to leave again…"_

 _I blinked at her. "Do you know why your brother left?"_

 _Celeste sobbed. "He didn't like anyone… he was always obsessed with pokemon… but sometimes he'd tolerate me… because Rotom was my friend… he liked Rotom… and took my friend with him when he left… I don't know why… but Rotom wouldn't say anything…" She looked over at the pokemon who seemed to fade and wither when talking about it. Its eyes were dim and tears were in them._

 _"I'm sorry…" I looked up at her. "I didn't mean to make you two upset…"_

 _"It's okay Miss Eira." Celeste smiled lightly at me. "Maybe one day… I will tell you about it… just not today…"_

 _I patted her shoulder. "And that's more than fine… I don't want to push you."_

 _"Should we keep going?" Celeste asked me worriedly._

 _"Of course." I smiled at her and the girl rose from where she was sitting to float in the air with her good friend of a pokemon. She started ahead of us while I looked back to see Shadow smiling back at me. She lowered her head when I held my hand up for her to snuggle into. She rubbed her head in my hand before we followed after the ghost and the ghost pokemon, making it by another path._

 _We were almost there. A single path stood between us, that was all that was there. But there was no choice this time; it was a single path that led us strait to the stone. I took my first step toward it, but the path seemed to fade a bit, and it wasn't the path… it was me. It was time for me to begin my first Grand Festival._

 _"Awe…" Celeste pouted. "We'll see you soon again, right?"_

 _"Of course." I smiled at her and lightly rubbed her head. "You'll be watching me at the festival, won't you?"_

 _"Yeah! The queen already has a portal ready in the arena so we can watch you!" Celeste grinned and jumped in happiness as I continued to fade. "Good luck Miss Eira! Do your best!"_

 _The last thing she saw out of me was a smile as I faded from sight._

 **Awake:**

I slowly opened my eyes after visiting the Distorted World to see my pokemon surrounded around me in the room I shared with my two friends. They were both still sleeping, but a loud banging on the door caught my attention. I blinked a few times, confused, as I looked at the digital clock next to me. It read six-forty. I blinked and rolled over to go back to sleep for a bit more sleep before I heard the knocking on my door again, this time much more pounding like.

I groaned as I rose from the bed I slept in with my pokemon and walked over to the door. I could feel the eyes of my pokemon tiredly looking at me as I approached a door. I unlocked it and cracked it open just to see someone wedge their foot in the crack and push me back. I feel flat on the floor with a grunt. With that sound out of me, my pokemon were all to their feet and racing around me.

"Oh my Arceus! Eira Baby! Are you okay?" I looked up for a moment to see my mother appear in my blurred vision along with her pokemon, Honey. My pokemon instantly calmed down while I could still hear the snoring of my friends on the other side of the room. Both of them didn't even hear what happened with my mother. I was surprised to see she was already dressed and ready to go in a bright colored dress of pink color with a white jacket. Her hair was done up and smoothed out with a pair of cute shoes on her.

"Mother… why are you here so early? …It's not even seven yet…"

"Oh Baby… I'm sorry; I thought you were up already…"

"Not before seven…" I groaned as she helped me up to my feet. "You didn't answer my question…"

"Oh I came to help you get ready for the ceremony at eleven!" She grinned at me as she pulled out a bag of clothes that she brought behind her. I watched her open it and saw the bright neon colors behind her and I groaned, walking up to her and closed the case.

"Mother… I don't like bright colors… I also don't need four hours to get ready-"

"Oh Baby, don't tell me you don't want help?" My mother pouted at me and I groaned at her, holding my head.

"I never said that… I already bought my clothes for the Grand Festival… and I would like some help… but after I've had another couple hours of sleep." I slowly moved back to my bed. "Wake me up at eight-thirty. I'll be in a better mood then… and I'm not wearing those bright clothes…"

I plopped down just long enough to hear my mother sigh. "Just like your father…" I heard her walk over to me and pat my head as my pokemon climbed back into bed with me. I heard her grab the key to my room before I felt her kiss my forehead and leave the room, hearing her take the bag with her thankfully.

I sighed as I drifted off for another couple hours of sleep. I heard the door close and it put my mind and body at ease just with her presence out of the room.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"Hello everyone and welcome to the forty-fifth Grand Festival!" Lori, the contest MC for the entire region, was here. She along with many of the judges that I had seen before and others that were joining us for the first time. I was at the opening ceremony with the other one-hundred and twenty-seven contestants who were all competing for the same single prize.

The opening ceremony was more of a meet and greet and to reveal the rules to everyone around about what was going to take place during the ceremony. One round would be held a day, meaning that the Grand Festival would be a weeklong event, leading right up to Christmas Eve, where a champion will be crowed. There are two appeal rounds and five battle rounds. The tricky part for me would be those first couple rounds, appeals were still a bit of a struggle. However, it was the first one that would be the worst.

The very first round, an appeal round, would be with one pokemon and then a single move used by them, so I would have to plan that carefully. The second appeal round included one pokemon only, but they were allowed to use as many moves as possible, so Bouncy and I would be using some complex appeals for today and the next day. Then on the third day would be the battle round, only the top thirty-two contestants out of the one-hundred and twenty-eight that enter will proceed to the battle phase. They would be double battles, and that's how they would go for the rest of the tournament. I would be using Elecky, Bubbly and Magma for those battles.

"Alright, now let me introduce our judges for this year's festival!" Lori cried out as she pointed to what appeared to be six different judges on the stage. "Our first is our all time favorite judge that's been with us since the beginning forty-five years ago who won our fifth Grand Festival, here is Dexter Pandora!"

The older man smiled, being in another suit, this time in a richer dark chocolate color then the last time I saw him. A hat that matched it sat on his head and he waved it lightly over his head as the crowd cheered. "It's finally that time of year again. Not only to be merry and enjoy time with family, but for our favorite contest of the year, the one that ranges for seven days long right before the holiday. I'm more excited to see what you all have brought to the festival."

"Exactly right Dexter!" Lori nodded before turning to another judge. "And here's our next judge, this town's very own Nurse Joy and her partner Blissey!"

The pink haired woman smiled as she looked over her desk in a thick red coat to keep her warm. Her partner, a blissey, was at her side. "Both Blissey and myself are extremely honored to be a part of this year's Grand Festival as a judge. We've seen many of the pokemon that are participating in this contest and I'm happy to say that all of them are fit, exactly what we would expect for experience contestants like yourselves. I look forward to the appeals and the battles for everyone!"

The crowd was cheering wildly from above and Lori smiled and pointed to the next judge. "Well said! And now for our next judge, you guys all know her as a gym leader as well as a top coordinator who won the thirty-fifth Grand Festival, here's Fantina Sumner!"

The woman was dressed in her normal ball like gown of purple hues and her hair pulled back into its four buns. She smiled at us and pointed down with her white gloved hands. "I've seen many of you bright and shining stars this year alone and some years before that who are eager to win. I'm more than ready to handle whatever you all can throw at me!"

"That's the spirit!" Lori then pointed to my mother next. "And next we have our next judge who won the thirty-seventh Grand Festival and actually got to watch her own daughter become a coordinator this year, hand her the girl's first ribbon, and watch her compete in this year's Grand Festival! Here's Joey Helaine!"

My mother smiled as she appeared today in what appeared to be in her same bright clothes as before when she first woke me up and helped me later once I was more awake. "I'm so excited for this year, not only is it my first Grand Festival that I get to judge in, but it's also my daughter's first to compete. I know that all of you have just as good of shot of winning as her, but I'm excited never the less to see her and all of you shine today. A winner is among all of you!"

"That's so sweet Joey!" Lori had to wipe her eyes to prevent herself from crying. "But now we have a set of new judges among us! Our fifth and sixth judges actually hail from the Hoenn region and are quite important to our contest world. Our first judge actually entered into the season quite late, but still managed to get her required amount of ribbons for the Grand Festival last year. With an amazing amount of skill and luck, she won! Not only that, but the Pokѐmon League in her region as well and is a member of the IPHP League! Her boyfriend followed a similar way rising up right behind her! He faced her for the title at the previous year's Grand Festival, but his time came this recent year. While a part of the IPHP League, he flew back after gathering the ribbons he needed to compete in the Grand Festival in Hoenn only a week or so ago and became a top coordinator! So please help me welcome the royal couple of Hoenn! Champion Jezebel Emery-Twain and Matthew Ashling!"

I watched as my good friends from the Hoenn region were seen next in two booths next to each other and holding their hands fondly, standing so that everyone could see them. They both smiled and blushed at each other quietly before turning to the crowd. They were both dressed up nicer with Mattie in a button up shirt and dress pants while Jezebel seemed to favor a green strapless shirt with a see through bright green shirt on over it and black shorts. On both of them you could still see their tattoos for the IPHP League.

"You have no idea how honored we are to be able to judge this," Jezebel noted as she looked to the crowd. "Mattie rushed back and forth between our regions in order to make it back in time for this. We know quite a few people who are competing today and we wish them all the best of luck."

"J-Jezebel and I love contests…" Mattie seemed a bit nervous on the stage and I saw him grip his girlfriend's hand a little harder. "We're very exciting to see all of you appeal and work your way through the ranks… We hope you all try your best…"

"Oh, and that reminds me!" Jezebel grinned as she threw a fist up into the air. "My best friend, Aria Charolette and her boyfriend Casey Birch are here as well, and depending on how you do in the contest, she'll be doing interviews with people she and her boyfriend think will make it high in this competition, or make it all the way. They'll also be doing interviews with the judges to see what our favorites are, so don't forget to check out the papers tomorrow and throughout the week up until Christmas!"

"But we do have a word of warning as well…" Mattie's eyes looked a little grim there and I blinked as I'm sure others did as well. "For everyone in the crowd, please be careful and try to stay in groups while here at the tournament. Team Galactic has been seen around in many places in the region and we believe they might be here as well. We won't let them stop us, but for the safety of everyone, please stay in groups and light places."

"We also have our very own gym leader at the Pastoria gym to look out for all of you," Jezebel added. "Crasher Wake and his members of his gym have offered to be a security team or sorts to keep everyone safe here, so if you run into problems, seek them out or one of us judges or anyone you can. We want this to be a joyous Grand Festival with no problems. So let's all try to work toward that, okay?"

The crowd cheered again from its eerie silence and Lori clapped her hands on the stage. "Thank you so much for covering that for me Champion Jezebel, Mattie. And now we can move onto the fun stuff!" The crowd's cheering became louder, if that was even possible. "And now we'll start off with the first round! Now for those contestants that are free, enjoy the sights, watch your competition, or go see you loved ones or whatever else you wish to do while waiting. The first round will go until four this afternoon, with a break for the judges around two for lunch. So let's get started! Our first appeal belongs to Bianca Aaron! Please stay behind while everyone else head to the designated seating or anywhere else."

I decided to leave then, I'd hardly had a bite to eat since my mother barged into my room at eight-thirty to help me dress and kick out the boys. _And I was_ _ **strongly**_ _craving a mint tea…_

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

With a mint tea in hand, I strolled down the hallways that looked over the giant stage for the Grand Festival. It was called the Pastoria Dome and was used for many other events besides hosting the Grand Festival every few years. It had been built about thirty years ago, but every few years it was shut down for renovations to keep it up to date and to fix any problems there may have been.

Besides my pokemon at my side, which was Bouncy in my arms and Elecky strolling next to myself, I was alone. My other two pokemon rested in their pokeballs, knowing that they wouldn't be able to fight until two days away at the soonest, if we made it through. So they decided to save their strength. Magma was just lounging in his pokeball while Bubbly was relaxing after having a huge meal just ten minutes ago.

On the other hand, my friends were off on their own. Casey had gone off to take care of Cleffa as well as watch the festival to see new pokemon and what they were capable of, and he probably would seek out Aria and Casey at some point to be involved with their interview to ask questions as well about their pokemon. Parker on the other hand…

I dreaded just thinking about it…

Since meeting Crasher Wake and battling him myself, Parker had a small obsession with the man and for some reason followed him all over the location. And for us to stay for two or so weeks for the Grand Festival and the holidays, it made another excuse for Parker to stick closer to him. I didn't quite know how this started, Crasher Wake was no different than any other gym leader I had faced before, but it could have been anything that would have been the trigger. I hadn't seen much of the young man I called my best friend since we stopped here nearly half a week ago…

But it was Parker, and he would come back in time to keep moving forward on our journey. I was not worried that he would leave me; any time we spent apart would make him lose his sanity. We were a safety of sorts for each other, and if we weren't close, things just… didn't work well.

"Hey there Eira!" I blinked as I watched four figures appear before me. It seemed that there were others of the IPHP League that I had yet to meet. Before me was Gwyn Jalen, who seemed to have dressed up for the event of the Grand Festival. She was in a Christmas dress made of a vibrant red velvet with snow white edging to the dress. A matching pair of shoes with white puffs hanging on the edges of the laces were on her as well as a Santa hat. She had her hair down and her eyes seemed to glow in excitement.

Attached to her by a hand, the red haired male, he trailed behind her in a more dressed up manor of a dark blackish blue button up shirt and black dress pants, while racing to keep up with his romantic partner. Two jackets were hung over his other arm as he raced after the girl pulling him. His eyes were soft as he looked at her, Tristan Vilmos seemed to have much love and care for the girl before him, even as he was dragged against his will.

Behind the two of them was another pair, one that was dressed nearly exactly like Gwyn, but had a dark green color for her velvet material of her dress instead. Matching shoes with bells on the end to match the festivities sat upon her younger feet and she laughed as she was carried on the shoulders of her friend and resident observer. Levy Marveille looked down at the young man, Aaron Verin, who carried her. He was dressed up as well, but seemed to sport jeans instead of a dress pants, probably because it was more of his certain style. His favorite hat of gold and black was planted on his head which Levy held onto as he skidded to a halt before me with the other two. They took a moment to catch their breath before Gwyn released her partner and looked at me.

"I know we haven't officially meat yet, but I'm Gwyn Jalen." She held out her hand for me to shake and I smiled and did so as well. She looked at me in question before she smiled. "The others were right, you are quiet. It's nice to have a new kind of person around compared to Violet I and Violet II."

I tilted my head up to her in question. I blinked at her as well, not understanding very well.

Tristan gave me a knowing smile and patted his girlfriend's shoulder. "Gwyn, I don't believe she understands what you mean."

"Oh! I'm sorry!" She grinned at me shyly before holding her hands behind her back. "Well, Violet and Jezebel are nearly one in the same person; just what they like is different really. They get really physical in most situations and tend just to go crazy a bit…"

"And they don't listen to you much, especially when you go on them about swearing!" Aaron laughed as he helped Levy down to her feet. She nearly stood up to his shoulder as she continued to grow, as did he. The three year difference between the fifteen and twelve year old didn't seem too drastic.

"It's funny when you get all red at them Gwyn!" Levy laughed and hid partially behind Aaron as the older woman turned dark in her face from the anger radiating through her body, showing the color through her cheeks.

"None of you do!" She huffed and turned away from them.

As the three of them bantered between one another, Tristan slipped out between them and came to my side. He offered me an arm; much like Vince had done when my mother had taken my friends, and others I knew, away from me in showing them the contest hall in Hearthome. I took it happily and walked with him down the hallway and away from the others.

"Tristan Vilmos," He held his other hand over both of ours for me to see. I smiled and gave him my other hand, twisting it in the opposite direction so we could actually shake them in some sort of form.

"Eira Helaine…" I smiled at his kindness that showed through. I wouldn't have expected it that endured nothing but suffering from Team Rocket as the heir to their organization, however, he seemed to almost be rid of those horrid memories. His eyes showed nothing but softness and love.

"You seem quite prepared for the festival, are you?"

Generic questions, easy ones to open myself up to. He was a person who seemed to not talk as much, a lot like myself. I found that almost endearing. I could see why Gwyn's more active and energetic personality would fit with his.

"Almost… Maybe…" It was one of the things I was actually worried about as I entered the Grand Festival. Would I pass through the first two rounds? They were appeals… and sometimes we didn't do well in them, even if we had a lot of time to focus on them. "My pokemon still struggle with appeals… if we can make it past them… I think we could go very far in the competition…"

And my pokemon would not let any other member of this team live it down if we lost…

"I'm sure you'll do fine." I felt Tristan's hand pat my own, trying to keep me calm but not over step his boundaries or mine. "I've heard your friends boasting about your training, and it sounds like you're doing well. That buneary of yours has certainly improved."

"She has… but she still has a way to go before I would be more comfortable with her on her own… especially in battle."

Tristan's eyes turned darker then, almost as if he could feel the pain radiating off of me in that moment. "It's understandable after everything she's been put through…" I watched him shake his head. "No one escapes something from that unscathed…"

 _He was right; we all had our scars to bear…_ I dared to look back at him as the onyx black eyes seemed to get darker with the seconds that ticked by. Compared to his mood moments before, it was dark and withdrawn. He seemed to have his own suffering to still deal with, even after half a decade of freedom. Even I had my own issues to deal with after my father had left and mother's change in attitude.

"Eventually, we can make it past these events." I noticed then that Tristan had raised his head from the low position it had been in. He turned to face me, his eyes softened then. "We've been told of yours, as I'm sure you've heard of the news of our own as well."

I gently nodded to him. Violet had told me as much the last time I saw her, as did some of the others that I had run into.

"While we're on a dark type of news or sorts… I want to warn you of Team Galactic." I blinked up at him as his eyes trailed to the path before us again. My eyes followed the same path as they were driven by the dark thoughts of my father and his organization. "We've seen some of them in the area. We know that you're a part of the tournament, but while you're on break or training, we'd like to ask for your help in finding them or taking down any operation they may have."

"You have it," my short answer was all that he needed. I had planned to do such a thing anyway and was actually surveying the area while keeping an eye on my competition in the tournament when he and his group had run into me. Even with my mother here, that would not stop my activities of going after the organization my father ran, nor improving my own personal courage level to confront my father and question him on everything.

"The only thing I want to worry you about though, if you notice a man or a woman that have red hair like mine, don't fight, _run_." When he intensified the stress on that last word, I turned to look at him. Tristan had stopped and his arm was out of mine and had pushed me up into a wall. My eyes widened in shock and slight fear as his eyes grew dark, void of emotion. "Rose and Razi will _end_ you if they come into contact with you, the fear you feel now, with this-" he gestured to himself boxing me in, "this fear is only a portion of what you'll feel if you look into her eyes." Tristan stood there a moment, allowing the dread to settle in my heart before he pulled back and his eyes seemed to have emotion once more.

My pokemon quickly released themselves and surrounded me in anger and… what surprised me most was fear. All of us felt it coursing through our veins. Even if Tristan was on the side that fought evil, he was surrounded by nothing but evil for more than half his life. He knew how to mimic it or to intimidate others, and he did it well…

I was intimidated… I was scared… the confidence I had moments ago was entirely blown away… Even with my pokemon by my side, Bouncy clung to my shirt while my other three created a barrier around me from Tristan. We knew how powerful he was, we didn't stand a chance against him…

"Tristan!" I heard a voice call from the side, but I was unable to turn my head as I watch him. His eyes still held me, the fear still stunned me. "What in the name of Lugia did you do to her?"

He broke contact with me, and once his eyes left mine, I was free. I dropped to the ground. My pokemon instantly were all over me, even if they couldn't beat the powerful person before us, they wanted to protect me as much as they could.

"Jesus dude!" I heard Aaron rush over and I felt a hand on me, trying to help me to my feet. With the help of both him, Levy, and my pokemon, I was standing with my eyes glued to the ground and Bouncy locked within my arms. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Aaron!" Gwyn snapped at him.

He snarled back at her. "Gwyn, not the time to worry about me swearing!"

"It was just to show her that she should be fearful of Rose, and that she could be here." I heard Tristan's soft voice talking to the two of them.

"Why on earth would Rose be here of all places?" Gwyn groaned. "And couldn't you tell her in another way other then scaring her about that horrible woman?"

"You know as well as I do that Rose could be anywhere, no place is safe from her until she is captured and dead." That voice grew dark again and I couldn't stop the shaking through my limbs. Bouncy felt it and tried to calm me, but she had little effect on what Tristan had done to me.

I'd felt this fear before; it was like one of my panic attacks. It took over me entirely, but it was possible to calm down with time patience and the right people. None of the ones around me would help right now… but I did have mint tea.

I took a large gulp of the tea itself and instantly I was feeling the herb work within my body. It relaxed a bit where the tremors inside were minimal and I could try to breathe again. I felt something wet on my cheeks. I knew it was tears that had shed when I couldn't tell moments before.

I looked at the four before me and I slowly backed away as they argued and lectured between one another. I needed to find Parker. If I could find him, calm down and take in another few mugs of tea, I would be calm enough to do my appeal with Elecky. She was more powerful then Bouncy and could carry the single attack over the area like I needed it to be.

The first round would be short, and I would be on soon. And if I couldn't focus because of this fear, I would be out before this event even began…

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"Are you sure you're okay now Eira?" Parker questioned me in front of the security station where Wake and his gym members were stationed, looking over news feed of the location with more members patrolling. Parker was helping out with the task force here in the front, or as much as any young trainer at the age of thirteen could do, which was ask around, go on patrols or watch news feed. He wouldn't be allowed to aid in fighting off any bad guys… unless he found them on his own…

But being by Parker's side in the last few hours really helped calm my nerves. He always had his own way, by just being himself, which helped put my mind at ease. With them all taken care of, it made it easier for us all to focus on the event ahead.

But that didn't mean I wasn't still wary of any red color that would fly before me…

"Yes," I forced the boy I knew as my best friend to look at me strait on. "Parker… cheer for me?"

He smiled and ruffled my hair, which I whined at and tried to fix. "What else would I be doing?"

Even when scowling at him for my hair, I couldn't help but smile at him at the kind gesture. He always wanted the best for me and to do nothing more then everything that I was capable of doing in this life time. And right now, that was competing in the Grand Festival.

"Thank you…"

He grabbed my hand and squeezed it in encouragement. "You can do it Eira, you know we all believe in you."

I nodded to him before I finally let go and handed off to him my empty mint tea thermos that I could not take onto the stage with me. The entrance which I was supposed to come out of was only footsteps away from the security station.

I stood there for only moments before I heard my name be called as the one-hundred and thirteenth contestant out on stage. The crowd cheered as I made my way out onto the brightly lit area as I was sent to the center. It was an appeal round, so it was all about looks and using any knowledge to your advantage.

I could see all the judges looking over at us. Most of them had neutral expressions to be fair, but my mother was smiling brightly. Her happiness almost radiated to all the others. On the other hand, Jezebel looked to be quite the opposite. I could see her pokenav in her hands as she was softly talking to it, probably on the phone with Gwyn after I took off during her and the other Johto members session and yelling match. She looked worried about me.

I tore my eyes away from her in order to focus on the stage before us. We had only one shot of getting this right. I had to put aside my fear, for my pokemon that helped to bring me this far, and for their own pride… I can't fail them.

The stadium went quiet.

"Elecky," the pokeball slid from my fingers to the area before me and my electric pokemon was released. She cried out before sparks appeared all over her body. The crowd gasped as her looks and how she had recently evolved before this competition, only knowing her as a luxio and not a luxray. "Discharge."

"Lux!" She cried out as the electricity gathered in-between the hairs of her fur before letting loose and dancing around the stage. What actually stunned the audience and the judges the most was the color display between the electricity as it move around the stage. It varied in color from blue, to yellow, to red and green as well as purple.

Everyone gasped at the changes in the air while the judges looked over the appeal.

"My, my!" Fantina gasped. "What lovely colors!" She looked around to the other judges. "I'm afraid I don't quite know how she did that."

"Even I'm at a loss for my daughter's performance, but regardless, it's stunning to see the sheer power and the colors that seem to be manifesting for the air itself," my mother commented.

"Ah, and that's where Eira is quite smart for a young coordinator," Dexter smiled.

"Allow me to explain," Jezebel leaned in closer to her microphone. "The sheer power of this attack is awe inspiring in itself, however, the color element has to do with the air itself, much like you commented Joey. It's the air that is making the colors."

"Normally… electricity is unseen," Mattie added. "But when pokemon use moves such as thunder and discharge, they release so much power that it takes a physical form. It also a helps that the chemicals in the air give it color. Normally we see blue, that's because of the oxygen in the air. Pure helium would give off a yellow or red color to it, or agron would make it lavender like in color."

"This shows that Eira has done her research." Dexter smiled as he looked out to us on the field. "This area of the region in particular is home to one of the largest swamps in the world. It releases fumes all the time, and even in winter, there are still some patches that get broken up and escaped the frozen earth. Eira made sure that her move was powerful enough to give off a good impression, but at the same time, see if she would get lucky enough to burn off some of those gases to get the color. And that she did. That is the gamble and the thought process of a top coordinator, even if she's only been with us for less than a half year."

"Splendid!" Nurse Joy clapped with her partner pokemon. "I love how none of them appear to be the same!"

And that's just what they were. Every beam of lightning that left my pokemon's body and passed through the air. The gases from the swamp naturally pass through Pastoria in different levels all over, and most of the locals are just used to the different smells.

I got lucky, and that's what I really needed at this moment after all that happened today.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"There you are Eira!" I was surprised to see both Cameron and Parker together at the security station after my performance. Both of them looked entirely happy at my performance while Cleffa was cheering in Cameron's arms. Cameron bounced her lightly on his arm and she laughed lightly.

"You were great." Parker was quick to pull me into a hug and I held him just as tightly back from how well it went. The crowd was cheering even after I left. I'd gotten extremely lucky when it came to my appeal, and I was happy to see that, but I'd have to be careful with taking chances in the future.

"I'm sure you made it through," Cameron noted as he gave a hug to myself as well. Cleffa squealed as her body was squished a bit between us.

"I hope so… this was the appeal I was most worried for…"

"Oh don't worry!" Parker grinned and threw an arm around both of our shoulders. "You always get through!"

I shook my head. "Not always…"

"I'm sure you got through, the audience loved your performance." Cameron tried to give me hopeful thoughts. "I know you've had some trouble with appeals before, but that's normal, you began your journey as a trainer and most of your pokemon tend to lean toward the side of battling rather than appeals, but I have to say, Elecky was really impressive with the power she has as well as the knowledge of the swamp gases you used to add a more colorful effect. It really stunned everyone."

"I hope so…" I fidgeted with my skirt between my fingers. I had decided to wear my normal outfit for contests on the first day, it was not me that had to shine after all, it was my pokemon. I had other clothes chosen for the other days, so long as I made it through…

" _And now here comes the part you've all been waiting for!_ " The three of us turned our heads to the monitor to see Lori out on the stage with the six judges. " _And now it's time for the reveal of the sixty-four contestants that made it to round two! And now how the judges came to doing that was a point system that all of you earned when performing. During each act, each judge had to determine how well they loved your act and how if it was top coordinator material. All judges gave you a score out of ten points, with ten being the maximum you could get. So there is a total of sixty points you could get at the end, and zero being the worst. It would take a long time to list everyone, so we have compiled a list of all those that have made it to the second round on the screen. It will list how high you placed compared to the others. Later on, you'll receive a message to your room on when you will have your second appeal tomorrow, and for those of you who didn't make it, there's next year to compete as well, so don't be disappointed!_ "

We could hear the crowd cheering through the TV as well as the echoing of it a short distance away in the stadium, which wasn't far from here. We waited patiently as we saw Lori walk about the stage and momentarily talk with the judges before turning back to the audience.

" _Alright everyone! So to get the bad news out of the way first, we'll start with those in the bottom twenty and go in twenties up until we get to the top twenty-eight performances. We'll just keep going until we get through all of them. If you notice the area behind your picture is red, you didn't make it, but if its green, you're through, you won't see that for a few pages._ "

I felt the dread in my stomach grow tenfold as I looked intently at the screen to watch for my picture and name. As the first screen came up, I glanced over it before I breathed a sigh out, I wasn't up there… I still had a shot.

"I know you made it Eira." Parker jerked my shoulder lightly. "Come on, you've been working on this for Arceus knows how long, you had to get through."

"I don't know…" I sighed and leaned onto his shoulder. He took worry over this and released Cameron and both males held me close.

"No, you did make it Eira, we know you did." Cameron smiled. "We can feel it."

I dared to look up at him with a stray tear rolling down my face.

"Besides," Parker added. "We just saw the other full pages of those who didn't make it, only four more slots for those who are out, and I know you're not one of them."

I was trying not to get my hopes up. I watched the screen of red as it changed to mostly green and a few red ones. I quickly looked to those last four and I gasped in shock when I wasn't one of them.

 _I… made it through…?_

"I knew it!" Parker cheered and pulled me over to look closer at the screen. "You made it!"

"Now we just need to see your placement." Cameron noted as he squeezed himself next to us to see the single small screen. All of us watched as more screens past until we made it up to the last screen, the last twenty-eight people. Golden stars were placed on the top twenty, those that had near perfect scores… I was stunned when I saw I was in the slot of one-hundred and twenty… only eight people had beaten me in the first appeal round…

I wasn't even expecting to be that high… if I had made it…

"Arceus Eira!" Parker jumped and pulled me back, holding me at arm's length. "You made it into the top twenty!"

Cameron smiled while Cleffa was cheering in his arms. "See Eira? We knew you'd make it through, and you did so well!"

I smiled, looking away from the two of them. _I guess I should have a bit more confidence in myself…_

"Of course she made it in; she's the daughter of a judge." I lifted my head in confusion and looked over to see some girls and a few males with them that I think were out of the tournament. They were angry, frustrated, and they blamed me for their failure. I could see it in their eyes that they thought I shouldn't have made it, but they should have.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Parker snarled and took a step forward. He put himself before myself and them. Cameron took hold of my arm and I could hear Cleffa starting to cry from the sudden change in mood. I tried to soothe her by petting her head, but it did little for her and Cameron turned her into his chest to hide her from this.

"She got her mother to side with her and give her a high score to get her through!" one of the girls snapped. "We know that her mother is best friends with Fantina and that she herself and you two are friends with the IPHP League judges! That's more than half the people that she could influence into helping her!"

"Just because she is doesn't mean that she used that power!" Parker growled at the group and blocked them from me more than before. "Eira isn't like that! She would never cheat!"

"Yeah, I doubt that!"

They continued to argue before me with Parker as my defender. I was shocked to see this happening. _Why would I ever cheat? What would be the point by getting a victory I knew I didn't deserve? Besides, I never even let the thought of winning enter my mind. Nothing is set in stone. I don't like stealing the chances away from others… could it be that they're just upset that they lost and are taking it out on me?_

I sighed. I reached forward and touched Parker's jacket, gently pulling him back. He turned back to look at me, his eyes softened when he saw my understanding face.

"Come on… let's just go." Cameron easily nodded and held Cleffa close before allowing me a hand to take, which I did. I held my other out for Parker, waiting for him to take mine and for us to leave. Of course, that would mean taking him from his post, but only being thirteen, I doubt that Wake would mind the break from him. Parker grumbled and took my hand before we all turned to walk away.

"Coward!"

"Cheater!"

"Get back here Helaine!"

We continued to move away from them, avoiding the confrontation. It was petty and unnecessary, I was not a cheater, but let them think what they want; I know the truth, and so did the judges. They would never help me win; only give me a fair score. My mother might have loved me and wanted me into this field, but she would never help me to win. It was against her own personal code that she followed. She was once a coordinator no different than myself too. If there's one thing that we both knew, it was that the competition had to be fair.

"Like we're going to let you walk away!" I suddenly heard feet running and I only had a moment to turn before Parker was shoved from my side and into a wall, I heard a sickening snap from him as he landed on the ground and screamed. Cameron was pushed back and he slammed into a half wall of bricks, clutching Cleffa close to him to keep her safe. On the other hand, I was grabbed, my wrist trapped in the hand of one of the taller and older males who was a part of the group. I tried to rip myself free, but the man's grip was like iron. His friends soon gathered around me once my two friends were out of their way.

"Let me go!" My shout echoed out, but no one seemed to hear it. Everyone was too focused on the people who had moved on or had failed out of the competition.

"Fix this cheater!" One of the girls snapped. "We deserve this a hell of a lot more then you!"

"I didn't cheat!" I dared to turn back as Parker was moaning on the ground in pain. "Please, let go! I have to help Parker! He's hurt!"

Another female scoffed. "Forget him cheater, it's not like you care."

I felt my face heat up in rage. I continued to yank away from them as the grip only got stronger. I felt my eyes shut as I knew these people had to be dealt with for what they had done.

"BUBBLY! ELECKY! MAGMA! BOUNCY!" As my voice echoed out, the pokeballs leapt off my belt and threw themselves at the other humans. My pokemon were released and it was Elecky who made it out first and sunk her teeth into the man's arm that held me. He screamed out and released me; Elecky tore at his arm and yanked him back, forcing him to the ground. The other contestants screamed and fled back as Magma and Bubbly stood before me as a protective barrier.

While they kept me safe, with Bouncy in my arms as a last resort, we rushed to Parker and Cameron to help them up. Cameron was the easier of the two, his head and back hit the wall, which made him a bit sore and dizzy as he had told me, but he would be fine. Parker on the other hand had broken his arm in many locations. He had been thrown and his arm had been the only protection as he hit a stone wall. I grabbed his other arm, helping him and up throwing it over my shoulder so that he could lean on me.

Elecky still had her rock hard grip on the man's arm and had forced him to the ground. He held his arm as her golden and red eyes glared at him, daring him to try anything again. His eyes were filled with fear as he watched her.

No one dared move.

"What in the name of Latias is going on here?!" We dared to look away from the scuffle to see Jezebel and Mattie emerge from an alley way with some of the security with them. They quickly approached us. "I heard yelling, what happened?"

It took one look at the situation for Jezebel and Mattie's eyes to both darken. They both pushed themselves between our two parties right where the man was with Elecky. She still refused to let him go after grabbing me and hurting my friends. She growled as Jezebel approached her and the champion placed a hand on my pokemon's muzzle.

"It's alright Elecky, we can take care of this now. Go help Eira. They won't hurt her again." My pokemon's growling slowly subsided and she released the arm of the male. He instantly rolled away from her only to be grabbed by the security. The small group of them were all grabbed and pulled away while the two league members stayed with us to assess what happened.

"I-I can heal your arm." Mattie stepped forward toward Parker with his hand outstretched. Parker hissed out in pain before nodding to the older male. Mattie held his hands near Parker's arm and began to heal it while Jezebel approached Cameron and myself.

"Are you two alright?"

"I believe so…" I lowered my head before her. "They… thought I'd cheated…"

"What?" She blinked before a scowl appeared on her face. "Like we'd let anyone cheat in this competition. What made them think that?"

"I did really well… they didn't… They thought that because I knew you two and my mother was friends with Fantina, you all helped me get a high score…"

"So they cornered you into giving up your position so one of them could possibly get in." Jezebel was not pleased in the slightest as she looked us over before turning to where those other contestants had been before. "We'll deal with this Eira. I'm sorry that you had to deal with that tonight. We'll take care of it and let other contestants know that we won't tolerate for it."

I nodded to the woman before taking off silently while she and Mattie stayed behind, talking softly between each other over the events of tonight and how to handle it.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Much to my enjoyment, I had a good night with a deep sleep and a quiet morning where my mother honored my wishes once more and didn't arrive at my room until eight-thirty to help myself get ready. She and I had a small conversation about what had happened the night before and while she was saddened by it, she was glad that we all were okay and assured us that the proper measures would be taken when it came to those contestants.

She also spent the morning helping me take care of Parker. He was still hurt after the events of last night. We spent the morning taking care of him. A doctor had been called in and after all the healing that Mattie and Jezebel had done for him, Parker only had to wear a brace and ice his arm. It had been broken in several locations, so he had been lucky when the two members of the league showed up.

Cameron on the other hand got off much differently then Parker. Other than his head slamming upon the brick wall, he got a mild concussion, which Jezebel and Mattie helped with. Cleffa was still upset about the night before and what happened, but with Cameron feeling better, she tried to hold herself together.

I was dressed differently today because I was moving onto the next round. I decided to wear a new pair of blue jeans, some small black heeled boots and a dark silvery shirt. It was going to be cold today, so I had my jacket on over it to keep me well and ready for when we would step out onto that cold stage outside.

"Alright everyone! Welcome to the second day of the Grand Festival!" Lori was cheering as she danced out onto the stage. The crowd followed with her as well as some of the contestants. "I'm so excited to see all of you that made it to the net round and a good job to everyone who participated, even if they didn't make it!"

I watched all around as the air seemed to get a bit thicker. It was strange as my eyes trailed to the judges who all seemed to have disappointed looks, or even rage, about them. I dared to focus in on my mother. She looked close to fury as she looked out among the crowd. Did it have to do with yesterday?

"However," Lori's voice suddenly turned dark as she glared at the crowd and contestants. "We do not tolerate when those who don't make it take their anger out on those who did make it. Last night, a group of contestants who didn't make it attacked a winning contestant and their close friends, causing harm to them. Bones were broken, skin torn and hurt spirits. This is something that we _don't_ accept for behavior here." Lori's voice was dangerously low with anger. "Those that caused such trouble have been dealt with, but I hope we won't have to worry about that again."

"Such actions have never been treated kindly here, and just because this is the forty-fifth Grand Festival does not mean that it will be allowed." Dexter noted before everyone was talking worriedly between each other. "But now hopefully those that caused such trouble have learned their lesson and now have moved on from such despicable rage for an unjust cause."

I felt my head lower itself as I thought of last night. How those people's dreams were crushed in a moment… they had worked so hard all year round, and yet it was me that made it to the next round with some ease on my first try. I felt terrible for them, but I had won my position fair and square, even if I was still stunned by it…

"I hope you all are aware of that now," my mother noted as she tried to hide her shaking figure from the rage I no doubt believed she was holding onto. "If this should happen again, the consequences will be much more severe, such as banishment from the tournament for years, and the contest world itself."

Everyone started whispering around at each other about the announcements. I just keep my head low in shame for the trouble I caused.

"But now we'll move onto the next round, and hopefully we can bring our spirits up from this. So let's get happy again folks and get this tournament underway!" Lori's spirits changed then and I dared to lift my face, but only for a moment. I caused all this trouble… why couldn't last night just have been peaceful? I just wanted to be with my friends and family… is that so wrong? Why did they hurt Parker and Cameron?

I slowly moved away from the crowd, exiting before we were allowed too. No one stopped me; in fact, painful looks were shot in my direction by security as they silently let me pass as a few more announcements were made.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

I wandered the halls of the stadium as the different participants left in the competition gave off their second appeal. I held Bouncy close to me while Elecky walked at my side, after the events of yesterday; they were scared to leave me alone in the open.  
I didn't blame them. I was pretty scared myself.  
Would others treat me like that too? Just because I was the daughter of a top coordinator and a judge? It made me feel horrible that my friends could be hurt again because of me. I was the reason they were hurt...

After some time, I noticed that I had stopped moving. Elecky and Bouncy looked up at me worriedly before I sighed and sat down on Elecky's back. With my pokemon now in control, she slowly walked down the halls.

"Eira?" I froze when I hear that voice. I dared to turn and twenty feet away was Tristan. He was alone...

I didn't dare wait another moment before telling my pokemon to run. My fear had gotten the best of me...

And he let me go...

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

After running in circles for a couple of hours, we were certain that the male wasn't going to chase us and we could breath. Tristan… he still scared me after what he had done the day before. I know that he was only doing it for my safety, but he had terrified me to the core. I planned to do nothing but keep myself from and focus on my appeal and battles, no matter how far I made it.

This was the place where all of the strong people were, the best coordinators, the people who would have more battling experience and give my pokemon a chance to further our skills, even if we didn't make it past this round.

But here I was now at my second appeal, standing before the judges and Lori, as well as most of the population of Sinnoh, whether in person or through a television. The crowd was cheering after my performance from yesterday and I smiled up at them briefly before looking out to the large stage before me covered in frozen dirt and some large rocks.

"And now here's Eira Helaine for her second appeal here in the Grand Festival!" Lori cried out as I held a pokeball in my hands for the one I had chosen and an appeal in mind. "After her last performance with her luxray and its discharge attack using the gases of the swamp, I have no idea what she's decided for us today, but I have a feeling it's something different."

I held the pokeball up before throwing it out onto the field. Sparkles suddenly appeared and Bouncy was the one to take the stage in a happy manor, which the crowd was thrilled to see. She jumped around and waved to the crowd happily before a serious look came to her as she looked back at me. I nodded to her and her eyes seemed to darken in focus.

"Endure." My order was just loud enough to hear over the frost bitten air. My pokemon nodded and her body became incased in a red aura of sorts as a barrier to protect herself. The spectators watched on in shock as they looked at my cute shiny buneary in confusion.

"What in the name Arceus are they planning?" Dexter wondered aloud.

"Dizzy punch." The second order rang out and my pokemon lunged forward at the rocks that were placed on the battlefield, she threw her tiny fists at them. The crowd was stunned at her strength as she smashed the rocks to tiny, insignificant pieces.

"I never knew that pokemon could be so strong!" Nurse Joy suddenly gasped out with her pokemon jumping in fright at the sight of the damage Bouncy was causing. "This is a whole other side that we're witnessing here!"

I smiled at the praise, but we were hardly done yet. "Jump kick."

My pokemon took that moment to launch herself backward before me and held herself down before sprinting forward and slamming her foot into the rock and it shot up into the air. It continued to soar.

"Charm." Bouncy smiled cutely before she showed off her adorable side to the audience. At the first look, they were won over and cooing for her. She continued to allow the moments to tick by as she danced and smiled with soft cheeks and shining eyes.

"Her pokemon's so adorable…" I could see a light blush to Mattie's face as she looked Bouncy over. "She reminds me of my Luna…"

I felt the pride in myself growing from how well we were doing, but it was then it was time to finish the appeal. "Now Bouncy, use bounce."

"Bun!" She nodded before a white aura appeared at her feet before she shot up into the air just in time for the bolder that was shot into the air had come back down. She appeared above it before she flipped and slammed her two feet into it, shattering it into pieces before she landed on the ground.

The crowd was cheering, but grew worried when they saw the damage that had appeared on her from all the wear and tear from the performance. The moves we used were powerful, but they had a wear on the user more than normal. This was exactly while I had her used endure long before the appeal ever even started.

"I see now why she used that endure attack at the beginning," Jezebel noted. "Those attacks that her buneary has been using have caused a lot of damage upon itself, she had planned ahead."

"Healing wish." The crowd quieted, having expected that was the last part of my appeal before I threw out this last move. Bouncy landed on her knees and held her hands together as if prayer. She softly cried out before stars of energy appeared in the air and flew with a night sky appearing over the arena. A shoot star landed on her head and suddenly she was covered in a glowing yellow light and her wounds were healing. In moments, her fur and skin looked as if she had never even preformed other then the fast pace of her chest rising and falling from all the energy used.

"Wow! That's a new appeal from Eira!" Lori grinned as the crowd seemed to agree with her. "Now let's give them another round of applause!" I heard everyone cheering out and watched to see the judges clapping as well.

I'd done all I could… now I just had to wait and see the results.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It wasn't more than a couple hours later that I was seated with my friends in a popular café on the inside of the stadium with our pokemon, eating a late lunch and waiting to see the results of the final appeal round. It was hard, after everything that had happened the day before, my nervous couldn't stop being so restless. I wasn't even worried about if I made it through or not, but rather if my friends would be hurt once more if I was attacked by more failing contestants.

"Eira, you need to calm down." Cameron patted my hand that was holding Bouncy tightly to me, just shy of cutting off her breathing due to my nerves acting up. "We're going to be fine this time. No one is going to bother us here in such a place, and even if they did, we have many friends nearby that would run over instantly."

"And we won't run away this time." Parker huffed as he gently moved his fingers in the cast. I could see that it bothered him to deal with such a horrible item, but there was no choice. His arm had been broken, and even with the bone mostly healed, it needed a cast to properly attach it, and also hold it in a comfortable position. Mattie and Jezebel had warned us that it would be sore for at least a week, possibly more.

"Well, you guys shouldn't have to." We all lifted our heads to look above as Vince appeared next to us. He seemed to be strolling by himself and had a soft smile on his face. "Is this seat taken?"

He pointed to the vacant chair before me and next to my two friends. I shook my head silently at him before the two boys offered it to him. Vince eagerly took it as whisperers erupted around us and I looked around nervously, I could feel their stairs weighing down on me.

"Hey, calm down Eira." I was surprised to feel weight on my hand. It was Vince's that was atop of mine. "They're just surprised to see me is all. This has nothing to do with you."

"Sorry…" I let the word slip out of my lips as the older male sighed and leaned his cheek into his hand.

"There's nothing to be sorry for. If anyone should be sorry, it's us." I blinked in surprise at him. "We're a part of the security for this location during the festival in case any strange people show up, such as Team Galactic or Rose and Razi. I'm not sure how it happened, but those kids slipped by us and got to you. If we screw up like that again… and it's more than just kids… we'll be dealing with bloodshed…"

"Hey, we can hold our own to at least one of those groups!" Parker argued. "Team Galactic is no problem for us!"

"Speak for yourself…" Cameron grumbled as he held Cleffa closer to him while the little pokemon wasn't sure what made her father in a foul mood. Thinking it over, I knew the reason was due to him being beaten and Cleffa taken the last time we had encountered the evil organization. To make matters worse, he wasn't able to protect her and had to rely on our help during that event. Cameron was not pleased with himself and the strength level he was at.

"Hey, it's not always easy to take care of those organizations and their members." Vince reached over to rub the professor's assistant's head affectionately. "I'll be honest in the fact that we were pretty scared shitless when I was your age and Violet, Alex and I took on Team Rocket for the first time. Violet didn't give two shits, Alex was getting all possessive and protective when we went inside and I had no idea what we should be doing, so I just followed my sister's orders."

"You were afraid?" Cameron questioned him.

"Of course I was, Violet was too in the beginning as well." Vince chuckled and folded his arms behind his head. "She got attacked on the very first day she became a trainer five years ago and she nearly lost Amethyst. Trust me, we all know how you feel. It's not a bad thing to be afraid. What you do with that fear is the challenging question."

Cameron's eyes lowered to the table. "I see…"

I watched the two converse with interest. Vince had mentioned before that his preference had been males to females for… partners. And to my shock and happiness, he seemed to have taken a turn toward Cameron. I wasn't sure what it was in the younger male, assistant to Professor Rowan, that made him stand out to Vincent Vilmos of all people, but I guess I would have to ask the same question as to why the entire IPHP League took interest in the three of us.

"Hey Eira!" a hushed whisper caught my attention and I turned to glance at Parker, who seemed to have a confused look on his face. "Does it look like Cameron has a blush to his face?"

Sure enough, my blond companion was right. Looking across the table, I could see that Cameron had a light blush in his cheeks and his 'daughter' was already making sure he was well aware of it. Cameron blushed and denied her, but that did little to nothing to stop the child's games.

A giggle escaped from Parker's lips and Cameron's eyes glanced back at him. "What are you giggling about?"

"The nice red streak on your face, that's what!" Parker began to laugh and I sighed, looking to him as if he's grown another head, which seemed like most of the time.

"Parker!"

"What's the matter Cam? Am I bothering you?"

The sweet, innocent smile never left Parker's face as he glanced at the fuming Cameron who stood across from my childhood best friend. I smiled at the two of them while looking over at Vince as well, seeing his eyes light up watching Cameron get into a debate of sorts with Parker. Vince still hasn't said much about the subject, but I believed he had an attraction of sorts to Cameron.

When the time was right, I would have to question Cameron on his feelings toward the older male… especially with that blush within his cheeks.

"Hey Eira," I turned my head as Vince made his way over to myself on the other side of the table. "You made it."

I blinked at him in surprise. _Had the results already been posted while we were conversing?_ Vince pointed to screen and I saw my face, surrounded by green, the ninth slot from the top.

 _My appeal had been that good…?_

"Eira! You got through to the battle round!" Parker rushed over to grab me in his arms. "Now you're really going to kick some ass!" He rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Not that you didn't before…"

I patted his arm. "Thank you Parker…" He grinned and held up a hand for me to hit, another "high-five". I allowed my hand to come close, but before I could do my normal pat, Parker and whipped his hand back and hit it as if mine had already been up. I could feel the sting in my hand from the hit, and Parker noticed that. I pouted lightly at the fact that he wouldn't let me have the high-five that I always liked.

"Hey, I gotta improve your high-fives somehow." He grinned at me.

I rolled my eyes back at him. "If you say so Parker…"

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Vince had left us later on in the day and we had gone to rest and relax. Vince had been soothing to the atmosphere and calmed my nerves with the extra push his personality made the area seem calmer and less threatening. I was able to allow my nerves to calm themselves and enjoy the conversation while finding out I had made it to the first battle round, and with it then being no longer about appeals, I was in my element.

The battling was supposed to be doubles matches, and both my pokemon that never really did any appeals were more than happy to start the fighting. Bubbly and Magma wanted to go first, eager to battle and no longer wishing to rest inside their pokeballs.

Once again, my outfit had changed. I decided that I would wear a forest green dress of sorts that had a v necked cut and long sleeves on it as well to provide me with a bit of warmth, however, I did have on leggings underneath for warmth and incase the wind picked up. I wore the same black heeled boots as the day before but I had curled my hair this morning. I couldn't get my mother to drop that, but I agreed if she would not put any make up on me…

Honestly Mother…

It was later in the day and we were waiting for my match to go off in an hour or so. I was to be battling some coordinator by the name of Harley. From the looks of his profile that I was given on him as well as his team, he looked like a seasoned opponent who would give me a good fight. His style seemed to be that of steel types and some rock, so looking to my battle team, I was pretty happy with the choices.

"Hey Eira!" I turned my head to Cameron who was typing furiously on his laptop on his bed. "Mind coming over here for a second?"

I slowly rose from my own with Bouncy still trapped into my arms. She was happy to snuggle there against the soft material of my heavier dress I'd bought for warmth. Once I landed on Cameron's bed, I was surprised to see a red box of sorts that seemed to have a yellow center through a circle cut out of the red. It was like this all the way around.

"Professor Rowan found this item on a magby in a nest he was looking after for research and sent it out our way to be looked at. Vince had seen me with it and said it looked similar to the item that had made his electabuzz evolve a few years ago and wanted to see if it was possible for Magma maybe to evolve with it."

I shrugged before turning to look at the fire type. "Its Magma's choice."

Cameron rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, I should have thought of that. I just wanted to talk about it with you first since it may be a new type of pokemon or one we rarely see!"

Cameron was getting all excited and Magma looked up from where he was resting near my bed. Once he saw the item, it was swiped cleanly from Cameron's hand. I watched my pokemon in interest as he stared almost hypnotically at the box.

"Magma…?"

I was surprised then when a light overtook him. He entirely turned white. He grew massively in size and before we knew it, he was taller then what I knew Bubbly was in her fully evolved form. He stood a few feet over me and his body was large. New flames seemed to appear out of his shoulders and his tail changed to entirely flames.

When the light faded, I watched as his body was multiple shades of yellow and red with a pink face and legs. His arms now appeared to be cannons or sorts that his claws were inside as well as flames on his head, shoulders, and tail, actively burning.

My fire type grinned madly at me as he showed off his new form and I couldn't help but smile at him. "Oh Magma… the crowd will love you and the opponents will despise you…"

"I can't believe that worked!" Cameron grinned as he looked over Magma and started to gather pictures and data. "Oh wow! Look him up on your pokedex Eira! He's incredible!"

I nodded to my friend and did so. _Magmortar, he blast pokemon and the evolved form of magmar with a magmarizer. When launching three-thousand, six-hundred degree Fahrenheit fireballs, its body takes on a whitish hue from the intense heat. It lives in volcanic craters and its breath also sears and sizzles. There are no known magmortar nests in region._

My pokedex was right the moment it started to speak. Magma's body was so hot that a white hue appeared around him. He was excited to show off his new form to the public and battle. He lit a fire in his hands, and I could feel the power from nearly across the room.

"Easy Magma… we won't wait much longer, then you can battle to your heart's content." My pokemon nodded to me and tried to cool off a bit. I had three fully evolved pokemon now… and all of them were ready to fight…

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"And here we are folks! Our first battle on the third day of the Grand Festival!" Lori called out through her microphone before her. "And we got a huge match up listed here! Here we have two of our highest ranking members in the appeal rounds from yesterday! Here's Eira Helaine and Harley Everest!"

The two of us were shown on stage out in the cold. I had grabbed my jacket for some extra protection from the chilling wind that was gusting past us. The opponent across from me was in fact dressed in his own winter clothes of a think trench coat over his expensive looking suit. It seemed he was paid well to entertain others. He smiled at me with slick, jet black hair pulled back on his head with a fedora covering the top portion of it. Boots covered his feet rather than dress shoes that I would have expected.

"Both of them made it to the top ten in the appeal round, so now we're excited to see who wins this match! Both have quite a bit of experience in the battling experience. So let's see how this goes!" Lori pointed upward and a clock and both of our pictures appeared on the screen above. "And let the match begin!"

"Alright Steelix! Mawile! Let's take this stage!" Harley threw out two pokeballs and out came the iron snake and deceiver pokemon. There stood quite a difference between the two in height as the iron snake was well over our heads at probably thirty feet up compared to mawile who barely made four. However, I knew better then to doubt the pair. Both could fight well with being steel types to take more minimal damage depending on their opponent.

But they were going to have a hard time with my pair…

"Magma, Bubbly, take the stage." I threw out my two pokeballs and I heard the audience gasp in shock. There had been rumors floating around about Bubbly's evolution, which never appeared in the contests, but no one had seen Magma evolve. Seeing both of them suddenly different in appearance and power level threw the crowd into a massive outcry. Even my opponent seemed shocked at the turn in power compared to what he had information on, since my team had only been updated in the contest database with every appearance, both Bubbly and Magma hadn't been seen in a contest battle since Hearthrome.

"Don't let her pokemon scare you! They just got bigger! Attack with iron tail and crunch!"

His two pokemon quickly came out of their own shock before rushing at my pokemon. The steelix had its tail glowing in a metallic coating before swinging it at Bubbly. The mawaile on the other hand swung the giant mouth of its on the back side of its head at Magma.

I smiled. "Steel wing Bubbly."

My pokemon only grinned as they looked at the pokemon that approached them. Bubbly threw out her arm and the entire part of it was covered in metallic as well before the tail swung at her was instantly stopped and shoved back. The steelix looked on in shock as Bubbly hadn't moved an inch after she'd positioned herself in her spot.

Turning to Magma next, the metallic pokemon attacking him launched its mouth upon him. He grinned and only held up his arm in protection. The steel type landed its large mouth on his arm and time almost seemed to stand still as we watched the two of them.

In seconds, I watched as the steel pokemon leapt off Magma when his hot body radiated enough for the pokemon to have an apparent burn in its mouth. It screamed and tried to eat rocks and dirt from the stadium to heal its wound.

It was sad, but I couldn't help but giggle at the scene. It was hilarious. Though I did feel terrible when I saw that little stunt cost our opponent a third of his points. I could see Harley flinch at the sudden change and the drastic difference in power between our pokemon.

"Hang in there Mawile!" Harley turned to his other polemon. "Steelix! Help her out!"

The iron snake quickly made its way to where Magma was and threw its tail in the pokemon's direction. Magma jumped backward out of its way and Bubbly came close after him, the two of them needed to stay close together to cover for their faults, and with Bubbly being partly steel type, she needed the helping hand against a ground type.

Just to be sure.

"Show them one of your new attacks Magma." My fire type turned back to me in question and I smiled at him. "Fire blast."

My fire type grinned before he turned and held up one of his arms toward his opponents. Bubbly jumped behind him to avoid the attack as bright flames of red, yellow and white escaped his arms and shot to the other side of the field. The other two pokemon cried out over the blast as they scrambled for cover, but found none on the barren field.

Startled screams erupted in the air before the air went silent. I could see that the battlefield was covered in black soot and I couldn't see the pokemon at all on the field.

I dared to look around for them before my eyes caught something that I normally wouldn't have seen from all the dark soot. I could see a hole. They escaped the attack down below. I smiled lightly at the creativeness before looking at Harley.

"Your team is wise to take cover below the ground to evade my last attack, however," he looked at me with wide eyes of worry. "They have not escaped my onslaught."

"Steelix! Mawile! Get out of there!"

I could feel the rumbling as they moved below us, but it was too late.

"Bubbly, Magma, both of you use earthquake! Finish this battle!" I couldn't help the smirk that made it to my lips as both my pokemon grinned and suddenly jumped up into the air. It took only moments for them to slam their bodies back into the ground, whether they led with fists or hands, before the ground shook wildly. Screams echoed out in the stands once more before bodies were throwing from the ground and soon I saw that the two pokemon had tried to escape the onslaught that was heading their way, but were unable to and hurled from the broken and shattered ground. The two bodies were scattered on the gravel and soot covered ground, both clearly knocked out.

"And that's that folks! Eira Helaine is the clear victor of this battle!" My two pokemon cried out at Lori's announcement. I smiled as I looked to the crowd that cheered for us. The judges clapped at our performance and we bowed before making out way off stage. It was time to find Parker and Cameron for dinner, and if I was lucky, Vince may try to join us too so we could see Cameron red again…

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

With a steaming thermos of mint tea in my hands, I rode on the back of Elecky with Bouncy in my arms as we made our way through the festival. I enjoyed riding on the back of my pokemon. Once establishing that I wasn't too heavy for her to carry, she easily lugged us around so we could look at the stands that filled the streets and the stadium itself for the festival.

Hundreds of venders came to sell their wares and it was lovely to see them. I even stopped at a clothing vender earlier for some extra clothes to choose between for the final four battles that I hoped I would make it to (but felt more confident getting to rather than the appeals…)

We were on our way to meet up with Parker and Cameron at the time; they were waiting for us at the further end of the festival. We always tried to go to different locations for food to try new things and… after what happened when I got through the first appeal round, it just made us feel easier. Cameron was more than happy to agree with Cleffa in his arms all the time and he didn't want her to be hurt. Parker was the only slightly disagreeable one, but with both of us against him, we won.

It was only a short distance away, the small eat in that we decided to go to. I could actually see it from the distance, we were almost there. I smiled as we approached, but not before a dark figure caught my attention. I turned my head at the same time they did theirs to look at me before taking off into an alley between buildings.

And their features… I didn't see much… but I saw green hair…

A Team Galactic grunt…

Elecky was quick to turn where I'd shown her to and she rushed into the alleyway, hurrying after the caped fellow. She growled as she dug her claws into the snow and ice to move faster, but also not to slip. We rounded a corner before we came face to face with the entrance of town that led east toward the resorts and the lake.

There was no one to be seen…

I glared angrily out to the snowy land before Elecky and I turned on our heels and left. The others were waiting on us, but I would be certain to tell of our little encounter. Those grunts normally aren't smart enough to think twice about coming back to where they were found…

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"And you're sure it was a grunt?" Violet asked me when we met her the next day. Her brother had decided to stay with us to keep us safe while the rest of the members were scattered about the tournament area. I'd replied to her all the details of my little adventure but I also gave what I thought would be the best place to find that grunt, in the same area he was in last night on the edge of town, or somewhere between here and the path that headed north east.

"I am… I saw the green hair, and they ran when they saw me." I looked up to the woman before me. "It was one of them."

"Okay, just making sure." She nodded before patting my head. Even in this cold weather, her outfit didn't change much other than to jeans and a long sleeved shirt of maroon color; she still had on her same jacket and seemed to be fine. I assumed it was her pokemon that kept her warm in these cold times.

Violet pulled me from my thoughts as we headed toward the arena again. "Hey, listen, do you mind taking a short detour after you battle today?"

I blinked at her in question.

"Gwyn wants to talk to you later, but she wanted to wait until after you battle so you wouldn't have to worry about anything." I tilted my head at her. "Hey, I'm just passing a message, but don't worry about it until you get through you battle. She'll be waiting for you over at the pokemon center. She figured that would be a good place to meet up."

"Okay." I nodded to her before she gave a pat to my back and stopped following me.

"Break a leg, kid!" She grinned and waved. "Knock 'em dead!"

I rolled my eyes at her before looking down to smooth out my clothes. This time, I had gathered a beautiful white shirt with a snowflake pattern loosely spread on it as well as some small bits of glitter and a dark pair of jeans and my boots. I still wore my jacket from the strong winds that were bothering me today.

As Lori seemed to call out to the audience and commented how we were of the final sixteen that had made it, I looked to my opponent across the way. It was a young boy, one that needed permission from parent to be allowed to travel and leave home. If I had to guess, he was at the age of eight. He looked sweet, dressed up in a button up shirt and jeans with boots and a jacket. His hair was wild and seemed like it couldn't be tamed and he had a toothy smile.

I honestly had to admit that while looking at this child, I felt terrible that I would beat him and send him off crying… though I was impressed that he made this far at such a young age…

"And now we have Eira Helaine against Mikey Howl!" Lori pointed to the clock as it slowly ticked away a second. "Begin!"

"Okay! Let's go you guys!"

The boy sent out what seemed to be young pokemon that were no more than babies, they were children, and better used for the appeal section rather than battle. It was a little baby cleffa and a togepi. My heart wept for them as I would scare them in moments…

"Magma, Bubbly."

My two pokemon were quick to release themselves from their pokeballs and towered over the baby pokemon on the field. I watched the two of them look in shock, horror, and then started to cry. The little boy seemed to be in a fit of fear himself as he looked to my team. His pokemon quickly fled back to him and cried in his arms, not wishing to take us on.

"I don't mean to be rude here to you Mikey, but I would like to prevent such a horrible thing from happening." He dared to look back at me and my soft eyes. I walked across the field to him and patted his back. "You've done wonderful to make it this far, but those pokemon you've chosen are too young for battling yet, they would work better in appeals with how adorable they are."

He sniffled and looked up at me. "You think so?"

"I do." I smiled at him and lowered myself next to him on the ground. "I don't wish to be unreasonable here, but I don't want to hurt anyone that doesn't want to fight. If you and your pokemon don't wish to face me, the please don't. It's not fair to anyone, and I don't believe my pokemon would wish to raise a hand against children."

Both of my pokemon nodded and the child seemed to understand that.

"Okay… I'll get stronger eventually right?" He looked up at me in question and I nodded to him. He turned then to Lori. "Then I'll forfeit… I don't want my pokemon to get hurt…"

"Very well, then Mikey has forfeit and Eira Helaine will move onto the final eight contestants!" The crowd was a little stunned by what had happened, but for some reason, I saw most of them tear up while the little boy clung to my hand.

"Thank you Miss Eira!" He looked up at me with bright eyes. "I'll train and get stronger so I can face people like you in the future!"

I nodded. "And I look forward to it."

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"So what exactly was it that you wanted to talk about Gwyn?" I questioned the older woman as I saw her sitting in the back corner of the pokemon center. Gwyn had been kind enough to buy myself a mug of mint tea for my victory, even in forfeit, against the boy and how well I handled the situation.

Her smile faded, however, when I asked her that question. "I wanted to talk to you about my boyfriend… Tristan."

My hand was reaching for the mug at that moment, and once those words were uttered, my hand froze on its way to the cup's grip. I pulled my hand back and stared at my lap in sudden interest of the woven pattern.

"Eira… you know that he never meant to scare you of himself… but he wanted you to be aware of how dangerous his birthmother and uncle are…"

"I know…" I could feel her eyes on me, but I refused to lift my head. "I know very well what he was doing… but still, that fear that he… threw onto me… I don't know how to handle it…" I shook as I remembered the bright red hair and the deadly black eyes. "Every time I see his hair, red, I ran just like he said…"

"Figures…" I dared to glance at the woman. "That man…"

"He was just looking out for me… I don't blame him…"

"No, you're right. But still…" She groaned and ran a hand through her hair. "Look, what I'm trying to get across is I wanted to ask you if you'd be willing to meet with him for a short while to move past this thing?"

I dared to look up at that moment at her. "Meet with him?" My voice shook as I spoke. "But…"

"He's not mad… he understands exactly what he did. But he feels terrible about where things left off when you ran…"

"He's not mad?" I looked up at her in shock. While I knew he was doing it for me, I had no idea how to understand if he was mad or not at me. I was so confused.

"Not at all. In fact he wants to apologize in person to you." She reached forward and placed her hand on my own. "Would you be willing to meet him?"

"Only if one of the others will be there…" I blinked at her, trying to hide the single tear filled with fear from falling down my cheek. "And Parker…"

She smiled. "I'll make sure we're ready then. Just talk to Parker when you see him tonight."

I nodded to the woman as she ordered food and we waited on my friends who planned to eat with us that night.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

I sighed as I stood on the field once more. My mother and I had gotten into an argument for this morning about what I should wear and look like. Once more she was trying to push her ideals onto me. Normally she wouldn't push it like she was, but because we were getting closer to the end of the event, with today being the day before the semi-finals. A neon pink dress was her choice, but with a shove out of the door, I escaped her grasp. With my boots that I normally wore now, a pair of platinum leggings with black, ripped shorts over them and a long sleeved midnight blue shirt that was a bit baggy and rippled on me. With my jacket loosely hung over my shoulders, was I dressed and ready for my third battle.

This time I was facing a female. She seemed to be dressed much like what my mother would have like from me and it made me shiver just looking at her in disgust. A bright green dress in multiple layers covered her body and puffed out at the bottom. She had a crown on her head over her bright blond locks and high heeled shoes. I felt cold and exposed just looking at her…

"Now here we are for our next day of battling!" Lori cried out. "Whoever wins this match will head onto the semi-finals! So let's see what these girls can keep going forward! Here's Eira Helaine and Alice Rose!" Lori pointed to the clock once more as it slowly began to count down. "Begin!"

"Let's go Shedinja! Weavile!" The girl sent out her pokemon and they appeared somewhat small to me on the field. I could see one of them floating while the other was flexing its claws before its face. The two pokemon watched my side of the field, waiting to see my team.

"Let's go Bubbly, Magma." Once again my power set came rushing out to stand before the small pokemon, though I did not feel as guilty. These pokemon were evolved for one and had their own tricks to use against us. This was nothing compared to the day before.

"I'm not waiting on you Helaine! Go Shedinja! Start it off with shadow ball! Weavile! Use night slash!" Both of the pokemon quickly moved back and out of the way before attacking. A ghostly ball of energy filled the air and was thrown at Magma while the other pokemon vanished before slashes were made at Bubbly. Neither of them were affected much by the attacks not being too strong against them, bit still forced them to turn their heads.

"Water pulse." Bubbly threw out her attack that gathered at her feet before shooting forward to the other pokemon. I watched as one pokemon evaded, the weavile with its speed. The other, the shedinja, seemed to ignore that an attack was coming at it and I watched as a random sphere suddenly appeared to protect it without an attack called.

 _Was that a hidden ability?_

"Shedinja can only be taken down by super effective attacks thanks to its wonder guard ability," the girl on the other side of the field noted to me. "No one has been able to best him yet. And with weavile's speed, our targets can't get close to him as he hangs out in the back!"

"You're really endangering yourself if you think thoughts such as those." I blinked at her calmly as her speech had done nothing to bother me. She raised an eyebrow at me before she huffed angrily and I smiled. "How about I show you a really powerful attack?"

"Yeah right, like you could take out my pokemon with a single attack."

 _She forgets that even if her pokemon has the wonder guard effect, it still can be taken down if the right moves are used and it has less stamina compared to most pokemon, not matter how much it trains._

"Magma." My fire type looked back at me. "Use fire blast."

My fire type grinned and Bubbly dove behind him as the heat suddenly turned up tenfold and steam launched off his body from the intensity of it through the air. The crowd gasped as the field became almost foggy before he unleashed his attack to the other side of the field. From being hidden in the fog, all I could see was an intense lightly through the haze before I heard a scream on the other side of the field.

Lori was calling out to the audience and speaking to them in the background while we waited for the visual barrier to fade so we could see the victor. Magma grinned from his side with Bubby and they bumped their arm like appendages together in a form of congratulating one another.

I smiled at them before turning my head to see that there were three bodies on the ground on the other side of the field. I could hear sobbing. I left my box and traveled through the remaining of the fog and saw the weavile and shedinja at my feet. Next to them, sobbing, was the girl. This Alice looked up at me through her tears before pointing at me.

"You ruined everything!" she shouted at me with venom laced in her voice. "You ruined my chances of winning the Grand Festival! I was supposed to win!"

I sighed at the indignant girl before crossing my arms. "Nothing is set in stone, and if you do yourself the injustice of thinking your pokemon are all powerful and thinking nothing will beat them, you'll fall further when you lose. You'll hurt them." I turned to look at her team that was knocked out by my single attack. "You _have_ hurt them."

"Shut up!" She clawed at the ground and threw whatever she had in her hands at me. "You weren't supposed to beat me! I was supposed to win!" Tears streamed down her face as she must have experienced a loss for the first time. "Give it back! Give it back to me!"

"I can't give you something that wasn't yours in the first place." I blinked at her sadly for a final time before walking back to my own pokemon. They looked blackly at the girl as the fog cleared before returning and we walked off stage, ignoring Lori as she announced me as the winner.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Parker had been waiting for me as soon as I as I left the stadium. He gave me a hug and congratulated me and tried to get my mind off of the snobbish girl that seemed like she was supposed to be some sort of ultimate winner of sorts. It made me sick to think that there were some people out there like that. It would not only hurt them when they lose, but what about their pokemon? Sometimes I knew they were cast aside during such events as these, would that happen to them?

In the end, Parker and I met up at a small café where we were supposed to meet Tristan and Violet. We were going to have a meal together, which I had to admit I was starving for. My nerves had worked me up all morning about my battle and also meeting Tristan, but the disgust I felt toward that girl I battled moved all of that away and I was nearly ready to scarf down an entire menu to satisfy myself.

"How you feeling Eira?" Parker dared to question me once we were seated. He took the seat next to me at the semi-small square table we sat at. The aroma of food in the air nearly made me drool like Bubbly would.

"Starved…"

"That's good; we'll get you some food since you didn't eat anything this morning." Parker pried his menu open after a few moments with it being stuck together by what appeared to be water after it possibly being washed. "Anything you want?"

"Pizza." I was suddenly craving it and in the state I was in, I think I could have eaten a whole one to satisfy my hunger.

"Well then, wanna get two? I've heard that Vi and Tristan would be okay with just about anything."

I nodded to him and he placed in an order of two pizzas with a salad bar included into it for all four of us. As soon as our waiter was gone, I rushed to the salad bar and grabbed nearly one of everything to munch on to satisfy myself. Parker could only stare in shock as I began to devour anything in sight to appease my empty stomach.

In the back of my mind, I was a little worried about this, but at the same time… I felt too hungry to care.

"Oh come on you, let's go!"

"Ow! Violet! Please, there's no need to be so rough with myself."

I looked up then to see the pair enter the café. Violet seemed to have a vice grip on Tristan's arm, dragging him inside. Tristan seemed quite distressed while Violet seemed to be trying to hold authority over him, and it wasn't working on her little brother due to this meetings nature.

"Violet! Tristan!" They both in turn came to look over at us while Parker waved and shouted. As soon as I saw Tristan's eyes met mine, I lowered my head and focuses on my food, taking slow bites as my hunger slowly started to vanish once more. I couldn't tell if it was from the uneasiness or the lack there of hunger that was once there.

"Hey there you two!" Violet was quick to take her seat next to myself and then Tristan on either side of the others and across from me. Once we were all seated things were quiet for a few moments before Parker tried to break the ice.

"Hey, it's good to see you two." He smiled nervously. "I hope you don't mind, but we ordered for you and got two large pizzas. One of them just cheese and one of the pepperoni."

Violet waved it off. "Oh no, that sounds great! We love pizza and two large ones should settle all of us. Right?"

But silence came from the rest of us. Tristan and I were in a sort of standoff. His eyes were nervous and hesitant, but even so, flashes came back to mind where they had been dark and influential. They still hung right before me, even if I could see clearly that he wasn't going to do such a thing again.

"Eira?" I blinked and I saw Tristan was reaching across the table. I scrambled out of my chair as his hand made it just to where my food was and he stopped, left something behind, and pulled his arm back. "I wanted to get you something, but along with that, I wished to apologize for the agony I've put you through these last few days. I truly am."

With his arm gone then, I slowly walked back to my spot. He had set a small box within my area. It was only big enough to sit in the palm of my hand. I opened it carefully before I saw what was inside.

It was a painting. A tiny, nearly microscopic, painting of myself and my team as we stood out on the stage. A soft, yet proud look was to my face as my pokemon were at my side or in my arms, cheering and showing off their power. The effects in this picture showed me as a powerful person, someone to look up to or… fear? I dared to look back at the red haired male and he sighed.

"I thought a homemade gift would fit better than just going out and buying something." He leaned a hand on the table and began to tap it, clearly nerves were taking over as he tried to speak with me. "I'm really sorry for what I did… I never meant to scare you, only show you the real threat that was out there, but in the end, I ended up pushing you too far… and for that, I don't think I could ever forgive myself."

"Tristan…" my voice was hesitant, "…it's… okay…"

"No it is not." He shook his head and leaned forward, his hands covering nearly half his face as he tried to hide himself from me. "Eira, I tried to hand you something and you leapt back as if I would attack or the box would explode."

My shoulders deflated. _He had me there._

"I know… you didn't mean to scare me… I'm not mad at you… it's just… I still see it…"

"See what?" Violet questioned.

"His face," Parker answered for me. "It's all she's been seeing for the last few days since he scared her. When she looks at him, she doesn't see the sad or nice face he's showing now, she sees the intimidating one she saw when she first met him."

Tristan sighed. "Rose is worse…"

Violet slapped him on the back of his head. "She doesn't need to worry about Rose right now, nor Razi, so drop it. We've been going above and beyond making sure that woman doesn't find her."

"What do you mean by that?" Parker forced the two of them to look back at us.

Violet sighed. "Look, since we met the three of you, you, Eira and Cameron, we've always had one of the league members watching you, staying close. Where there's one of us, Rose won't go. It's always like that. She starts trouble and then we find her." Violet shook her head, dread setting into her features. "Rose likes to go after strong people that could be like us one day. Those that take down the evil in their region or those who are willing to face her." Her eyes met mine and I saw something dark, almost haunting in their depths. "Eira, your power and control over you pokemon is beyond what we can comprehend. Your power level matches the path that myself, Gwyn and Jezebel all took as we grew as beginning trainers. No matter what, until she's dead, she'll be after you and any way she knows she can get to you."

Parker gaped at her. "Is that why…"

"Yes… that's the reason why I stressed and sadly scared Eira the other day…" Tristan sighed. "And I'm sorry for that…"

"…I'm not…" All three of them blinked as they looked over at me. I turned to Violet. "Do you have… a picture of her?"

The woman's jaw dropped. "A picture? Of Rose Agustino?"

"Yes…" I'd done this once before, I knew I would be able to do it again.

When I'd been young, my mother had scared me after the event of my father leaving, both of them having calm faces, but cold looks to the eye. She had not done well after he'd left and was all that remained to pick up the pieces. When she's get frustrated and angry, she'd show that wicked side of herself to me and I would become fearful and wary of her. Then Parker had found a picture of my father in the newspaper, just after he was released and woken up. His face was hollow and empty. It gave me a reason to think that it was all my father's fault and not my mothers, making it him I feared rather than her until I could deal with it. After I'd figured it out and managed to do it. My emotions shut down and my mother slowly turned back into herself and I was able to heal a piece of me, but many broken shards were hidden behind the pieced together part.

And I could do the same thing with Tristan and Rose.

Violet blinked at me a few more times before she pulled out her pokegear and typed away at a few buttons. She brought up a picture of a woman who seemed to have many scars upon her face, icy blue eyes, vibrant red hair and a grin filled with malice.

Just taking a look at her face implanted the image into my mind, finally putting a name and face together; it was easy to overwrite what Tristan had done, since the overpowering feeling from his birth mother had over taken it.

A shaky breath escaped me as I handed back the device. "It's done."

"Done?" Tristan blinked at us. "What does she mean?"

Parker sighed. "It's gonna take a while, let's eat while we talk and get settled in."

While Parker continued to talk to the others, I finally raised my head and was able to bring a smile to face. I show it to Tristan and I believe he finally understood that I no longer feared him; it wasn't in my eyes as I gazed into his own.

I planned to fix this small friendship I had with him at the moment, and once I did, the fear would go away, but if… no… when I met his birth mother… I would be too far gone in the fear…

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"Can you believe it folks! We've actually made it to the semi-finals! One of these two contests before us right here will make it to the final two that will fight for the title!" The crowd roared out as Lori spoke to everyone. "And for our match up today, we've got another wonderful treat! One of our favorites that been with us for three years now, we have Kari Amaryllis! And her opponent would be an uprising star that has everyone startled and proud of, Eira Helaine!"

The girl was standing next to me as we waved to the others around us. She seemed a bit like me in temperament and her style was much like my own, but her clothes were a little brighter than mine, however, still short of my mother's desired neon colors.

"Hey, I know that some of your matches have been weird with snotty people or those that weren't thinking clearly, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm hoping for a good, honest fight here Helaine." Kari grinned and held out a hand for me to shake. "Sound good?"

"It sounds wonderful." I smiled at her and ready for a good and honest fight. She was a seasoned coordinator; it would be interesting to see what she could show me…

"Take your places girls!" Both of us released the other's hand and journeyed to our boxes on either side of the field. Once we were in our respective boxes, we turned to face each other and took out our pokeballs, ready for the battle. "Begin!"

"Let's go Gastrodon! Honchkrow!" Her two pokemon came flying out and saw the ground and water type as well as the flying dark type.

"Bubbly, Magma, good luck." My water and steel as well as my fire type appeared then and grinned as they looked to the powerful opponents on the other side of the field.

This was going to be a good fight…

"Wing attack! Mud bomb!" Her pokemon quickly rushed in and Bubbly only had moments to block a wing with her own while Magma was slammed with mud. It covered his body and he was pushed back slightly, however, his body was radiating so much heat that I watched the mud evaporate before cracking and falling off of his body. Bubbly threw the flying type away from her and they both grinned, ready to do an attack of their own.

I smiled. "Fire blast and blizzard!" The excitement finally reached my voice as an opponent with power and honor had come before me. The battle brought among emotions of extreme pleasure, which I enjoyed to every extent.

My two pokemon launched out their attacks and as the flames and ice traveled to the other side of the field, the two pokemon swooped in and dove into the ground before the attack hit and vanished. I was surprised to see the stage there was a giant hole. I wasn't aware that a gastrodon could dig that fast, or that a flying type would be willing to go underground.

But now they were in my area.

I smiled. "Magma, use-"

"Night slash!" The ground shattered before I could finish my order and black slash like figures appeared out of the ground and hit both my pokemon, pushing them back. My pokemon glared out the two pokemon that were moving on the other side of the field. The honchkrow had the gastrodon on its back and was carting it around with how slow the latter was.

 _They're in the air…_ I huffed as I looked at them flying around. _I needed to take them down… Bubbly has moves that would work, but I need to trap them…_

"Fire blast Magma!"

My fire type shot a beam out instantly. The blast moved the pokemon as it dove out of the way and moved toward our pokemon before it branched out of the way only ten feet away.

 _Wait… if they move toward me as an escape to get away from the attack…_

I smiled as I watched the pokemon flying around. "Again Magma!"

My pokemon looked back at me in question for a moment, but once he saw the smile upon my face and not a flicker of worry or fear, he nodded and turned back, unleashing more fire then before and it exploded in the air as it burned in the oxygen. Once again the flying pokemon searched for escape and dived under the attack, heading toward us one more.

"Bubbly! Blizzard!"

"Get out of there!" Kari shouted.

But there was little she could do…

The icy attack flew under the fiery one and slammed into the flying pokemon. I heard it screech out before its body fell to the ground, a wing frozen, and the second pokemon tossed from its back. The two of them were still able to get up, but were now unable to evade us.

The smaller of the two pokemon looked nervously as Magma glared down at it mercilessly. Bubbly grinned at the flying pokemon unable to fly. Both were stuck in a pinch.

"I'm so sorry Honchkrow! I put you in that spot!" Kari cried out from the other side of the field. "Forgive me for this my friend."

 _Forgive her?_ I watched in worry as the bird bowed its head and the smaller pokemon seemed to hold a fire in its eyes then. _Wait, it was a ground type-_

"Magma! Bubbly! Move!"

My cry came too late for them to evade.

"Gastrodon! Use earthquake!"

The pokemon leapt from the ground before slamming back into the earth with its body. The earth itself began to shift, crack, break and hurled my pokemon around as well as throw rocks within the air. My eyes widened as I saw Bubbly and Magma take direct hits from the rocks and were tossed back at my feet.

On the opposite side of the field, I could see the flying type had been hurled as well. It landed at its trainer's feet entirely knocked out.

 _She scarified her pokemon?_ While it slightly upset me, I could see her reason. Her pokmon was unable to fly, and it seemed to bother her as well as she cried over her pokemon on the other side of the field.

I turned back to my own pokemon to see them trying to raise themselves to their feet. Magma seemed to be having the worst time and winced when he tried to use his right leg and his same arm. Bubbly on the other hand was able to stand, but I could see one of her wings were down. It was discolored and dark from the hit. I think this was the first time she'd been hurt so badly since she was a piplup. Same with Magma…

"Hang in there…" I nervously watched them. Bubbly was still on her feet but Magma was not able to get up. His arms were entirely black already from swelling and pain. He flinched from the agony, and if Magma was showing pain, it was serious. "Bubbly, protect Magma until he can get to his feet."

My water and steel type nodded and moved before Magma. I could see him cringe from the fact that he had to be protected while he was weakened from such a powerful attack that the little gastrodon had put out.

 _But what would be powerful enough to take care of that pokemon? Other then the fall it took and a blizzard attack, it hadn't taken much damage… I blinked for a moment, looking at the rigged ground before I looked to my pokemon. Magma still had one good leg left. Could he still use it?_

"Magma? Is your good leg still able to be used?" My pokemon turned back to me before slowly nodding his head after moving it. I smiled. "Bubbly, help Magma up and get him standing on his good leg!"

My pokemon seemed to be a bit confused for the moment, but they did as I said. Bubbly's good arm was holding him up, both his arm and leg that were held up and off the ground. Once he was standing, both of them waited on my orders.

Kari watched me strangely. "What are you going to do now that your two injured pokemon have made it to their feet? Gastrodon is barely hurt."

"I'm finishing this." Both my pokemon finally seemed to get onto the same wavelength as myself and they grinned. "Bubbly, Magma, both of you, use earthquake!"

Kari I could see gasp as both my pokemon leapt off the ground before slamming down at the same time. She cried out, but her pokemon wasn't nearly fast enough to even hope to evade the attack. It was slammed, thrown, and crushed with the earth of the stage. I almost felt bad for it…

Dust was thrown up into the air. I raced to shield my eyes from the light debris and keep an eye on my pair before me. Bubbly and Magma stood tall before me with a path of destruction before them that led to Kari's side of the field. It took a few moments for the haze to drift away, but once it did, we could barely see the pokemon sticking out of the rocks.

Kari sighed and fell to the ground, seeing her pokemon was defeated. However, she did smile at me with a nod, congratulating my victory.

"And that's it! Eira Helaine goes onto the final round tomorrow!" Lori's cry echoed in the stage and I watched as my mother jumped from her judges' chair, so overwhelmed by emotion that she came to hug me. A light blush came to my face in embarrassment, but I refused to allow myself to push her away. She was happy, happy with me and what I had done.

"My baby's going to the finals!" My mother roughly pulled me back to look at me. "I'm so proud of you Eira!"

I smiled at her and nodded. I knew she was. I was pretty proud of my team right now myself. We'd come a long way and finally the last peg was before us. Tomorrow, our lives could change forever…

 **Violet's Point of View:**

Eira wasn't wrong when she said she saw the grunt here. Once again, the fool decide to show himself on the edge of the festival grounds exactly where Eira had seen him the day before. Alex was with me today while the others were scattered around the festival to keep an eye on all the civilians and the contestants there.

It agitated me that they dared to show their faces, especially after they had been caught the first time, and by a contestant none the less. However, I was thankful. Now we had a lead on where to look for these guys, and if we found these guys, we would find Rose.

"Can you believe the nerve of this grunt?" Alex questioned in an almost monotone like voice due to the idiocy of this person. "You'd think they would have learned after the first time…"

"One would think…" I shook my head before we began to approach the grunt that was covered in a cloak. As soon as we appeared behind him, a quick grab around his arm instantly froze him. He dared to turn his head and look who had a hold of him and saw my dark eyes.

"Vi-Violet Vilmos…"

"Well hello to you too, Team Galactic." He flinched at my tone and the way I roughly pulled his wrist to have him face me. He was a scrawny kid at best, probably about my age or a little older. Who knows? "Now… I believe we're going to have a little chat."

"C-chat?" the grunt questioned nervously.

"Oh yes… as to why you're here, where's your base… and," I roughly grabbed his collar and brought him closer, making him scream. "Rose Agustino. Where is she?"

"I don't know!" He thrashed, trying to escape my grip, but was unable to. Amethyst's claws appeared as my hands and my eyes turned just like her crystal eyes, glaring into his mind.

"I don't believe you." I snorted before I chucked him to the ground. He landed roughly before sliding up at my boyfriend's feet. Alex glared down at the man with red eyes and green hair spiked more than normal, as if they came to a point. The grunt jumped when he saw him, crying out and backing away closer to me before he realized where I was.

"Leave me alone!" He quickly covered his head with his hands. "I don't know anything!"

"Yes you do if you're wearing that uniform." Alex roughly reached down to grab the flailing teen. "You're coming with us and we're going to rip all the information we want out of your tiny little head."

"I was supposed to make sure you were here!" Through a sob we heard his reason. Alex was quick to release him and he gasped, clutching the fresh snow below him.

"And why is that?" I lowered myself to hover near him. I never saw him look up at me, he was shaking terribly, but I felt no sorrow or pity for him. He had made his choice.

"I was supposed to make sure you guys were here at the festival… guarding it… and make sure you guys stayed here…" He held his head as if I would hit him. "I don't know about any base or operation! It was just supposed to be a quick thing! I just needed the money for my mother!"

I watched him intently for a few more moments before I sighed and rose. I walked away from the grunt and back to Alex. "We're done here; just let the little pidgey squeal."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "We're not dragging him off?"

"Not this time." I glanced back at the male who looked at me worriedly. "This is your only warning, get the hell out of here and that uniform, or else I will not only arrest you, but I'll also beat the shit out of you."

Before I could even finish, the man was out of my sight. I took hold of Alex's hand and the two of us walked back toward the stadium. We were silent for a few minutes before my boyfriend looked at me.

"He really didn't know anything, did he?"

"No… he was being truthful, believe it or not." I groaned and leaned my head on his shoulder. "But they wanted to know that we were here and not off in other locations, which means something's going on or being moved."

"So what do you want to do?"

"We're at a dead end for now, we could follow the grunt, but I doubt he'd be stupid enough to go near them again after what we did. He's probably ditched his uniform and is running home in his skivvies." I chuckled at the thought. "But anyway, you and I will go out searching in the morning. The others will be more than enough for this location, besides… I want to find their base… before Eira does…"

Alex raised an eye brow at me. "You think she will?"

"Alex…" I shook my head. "She's like me and the other girls. I _know_ she will."

 **Eira's Point of View:**

The next morning I had everyone waking me up in cheery cries as they wanted to be ready and get to the final match of the Grand Festival. I was of the final two. I'd made it past one-hundred and twenty-six other contestants and now only one was left in my way. It was hard to believe, but I was happy to be there. My team had worked hard and deserved what they had earned.

With it being the final, my mother pushed even harder for me to be flashy and bright of some sort, but I pushed away all the clothes she tried to push onto me. The outfit for the finals I had platinum dress that was tight around my chest and sleeveless with a heart shaped top that smoothed out past my waist and extended to the floor. I had fallen in love with it once I'd seen it in the store. Parker and Cameron had been quick to comment on it looking excellent (when I had gone shopping and the two of them for some strange reason were more than willing to go with me…) before we bought them all to prepare for the festival.

Now, here I was and wearing it as I'd actually made it to the finals. I had to wear my coat, however, because of how cold it was and my heeled boots protected my feet. I was already out on stage while Lori was congratulating the contestants from earlier on that we'd competed against and all of those that didn't make it. I thought it was a very sweet gesture, especially for those that work so hard in order to not only get here before the end of the year, but also for those who have been working toward this dream for years.

I did, however, feel bad about being here in only my first year compared to those that have been working for this for maybe five or more years… It almost felt like I shouldn't be in this spot because other deserved it more than me. I'd come here on a whim because I liked contests, even loved them in my own way, but I had managed to make it to the top because of my strong pokemon and the shiny buneary on my team became the ultimate team that helped me make it there.

I knew my friends would chastise me for those thoughts, which is why I kept quiet.

"And now here we are at the final battle!" Lori cried out. "And here we have our uprising star on the left who's been shooting right up through the ranks! Her battle team is powerful and her appeal team is to die for! Welcome Eira Helaine to the finals round!"

I felt a beam of light shine on myself before I looked out the audience. Because of the effect of the lighting, I actually couldn't see much beyond the first few rows of people, which made the rows look empty and black. But I knew they were there, all their cheering kept me well informed of that.

"And the one who's trying to take her down a peg and earn a spot of those few who make it to top coordinator, he's been here at the Grand Festival for the past three years and been a coordinator even longer, please welcome Joshua Thomas!"

Another beam appeared, but this one on a man on the other side of the field. He looked nearly double my age with icy blond locks, pale skin, ocean blue eyes and a pure white suit to match his lighter colored ensemble. I saw the white dress shoes as well and no coat. How was this man not freezing to death out here was beyond me…

"And now we have the final battle for this year for the Grand Festival and contests alike!" Lori shouted through her microphone and the crowd cheered. "So let's get this started! Three! Two! One! Go!"

The lights were soon off of us and onto the field. The timer on the clock had suddenly started and I held my two pokeballs in my hands who were excited for this last battle.

"Let's go Magma, Bubbly."

My two pokemon soon appeared and looked down on the man on the other side of the field. With a grin he pulled out his own two pokeballs and tossed them.

"Let's win this Sceptile! Drapion!"

I was surprised to see two powerful pokemon before me. One of them I recognized as a pokemon that was the same species as Aria's, a sceptile. It was a grass type and extremely quick on its feet and with its attacks, and they were powerful as well. The other pokemon on the other hand, I didn't recognize, but I think I'd see the shape before. It was large and purple in color with two large arms and claws with sharp teeth with an exoskeleton for a body, all a rich maroon like purple in color. It had four tiny like legs that carried its larger body and a long tail that looked sharper than any blade. It seemed like white fur was coming out of the corners of its mouth and its eyes were a dark black.

I pulled out my pokedex to learn about it. _Drapion, the ogre scorp pokemon and the evolved form of skorupi. Its body is encased in a study shell. Its head rotates one-hundred and eighty degrees, eliminating blind spots. The tips of its claws release poison. Drapion nests are rare and can only be found on occasion in the Safari Zone or Great Marsh._

 _So it's a dark and poison type… interesting… How would be the best way to counteract that? Ground would be the only type to be super effective against it… most other attacks such as ghost and psychic wouldn't do a thing…_

 _It's a good thing my pokemon aren't those types or know those types of attacks…_

"I hope you don't mind me going first." The man smiled at me before raising his hand up for his pokemon to have their way with us. "Leaf blade and cross poison!"

I flinched as I watched the pokemon move. From behind the poison type, the grass type moved and rushed in to attack my water type. The poison type, however, focused on my fire type and threw the poisonous 'x' mark flying through the air at him with a swing of the arms.

"Block with metal wing and fire blast!" My two pokemon let loose the attacks and chaos was soon to be ensured. Bubbly and the sceptile met, its blade coated in green light from under its arm to her metallic wings slamming together. The two of them caused a gust to form while next to them the two blasts of poison and fire hit mid air and were caught up by the wind, all parties were forced backward to either side of the field while a poisonous smog of sorts shifted about the field. I gasped and raised an arm to shield my mouth, but I was somewhat relieved that the poison stayed on the field and didn't spread out much beyond that.

The four different parties coughed at the smoke (more of the poison for three out of the four while it was dusty in the air for the last) while the smog slowly settled. I saw it affect the grass type the worst on the other side of the field and I saw Joshua curse himself for it, not seeing that this would harm his pokemon.

"Earthquake!" Both of my pokemon were quick to leap into the air and slam their bodies back down. The opponents only had moments to react before the ground suddenly was crushed up once again. I'm sure the people who fix this stage were furious with me for breaking it so many times…

The sceptile was just barely able to evade the attack by leaping up into the air. It was so high up; it would be a few moments before it came back down, thus evading the attack entirely. However, on the other hand, the other pokemon was unable to evade, the drapion. It cried out as the attack his and his body partially crushed into the earth.

"Go in and help Drapion, Sceptile! Solarbeam!" From in the air the grass type gathered an incredible amount of energy from the sun overhead and threw a blast in our direction.

"Fire blast!" Magma charged forward before Bubbly and threw the attack off by disintegrating it and the grass type flinched before the fire hit its body. It cried out as its body was coated in flames and both pokemon were hit.

Joshua cringed. "Drapion! Sceptile! Come on! We can't let a rookie beat us! We've come so far!"

The pokemon half swallowed by the ground rose to its feet just as the grass type landed next to it on its feet. The sceptile had sustained many burn wounds and it seemed that the drapion was trapped in its spot. Another earthquake attack would prevent it from surviving the battle.

"Sceptile! Quick attack!" my pokemon were both suddenly struck and thrown back. The burned grass type was gasping for air, but it was forcing itself to beyond what it can handle to prevent me from attacking again.

"Drill peck!" Bubbly pushed forward and landed her glowing beak that spun into the chest of the grass type. It screeched out before it was thrown back and collapsed next to its trainer. Joshua looked on in fear from his fallen pokemon to the last one remaining from his team. It fearfully looked onto my pokemon that stood on the other side of the field, ready to give off the final attack that would end this.

"Not without a fight are we going down!" Determination took over his features and I watched the man in shock as he cried out. "Hyper beam!"

"Bubbly! Guard Magma!" My water and steel type jumped before my fire type just as the powerful attack that lit up the entire battlefield took over. I could hear Bubbly cry out as she was hit. I could only shield my eyes as the light blinded us all.

Only moments later, I heard something collapse and I dared to look up as I saw my first pokemon had fallen. I gasped and my eyes widened at the sight of her. It was her first time being defeated in any way… Her steel type was the only thing protecting Magma and herself from receiving more damage then what she could have earned.

Magma was hanging in there, other than the blinding light, he seemed mostly fine other than a few marks to his body from where the attack had grazed him. Bubbly had done well protecting him. I returned her to her pokeball with a thanks and a feast for her later.

I looked to the other side of the field. The drapion was exhausted; it breathed heavily as it tried to move, even its arms or head normally, and was unable to. I could see its eyes glaze over at us and that was a last ditch effort of sorts that was supposed to end us, but Bubbly's sacrifice saved Magma nearly in more than decent condition to keep battling.

"Let's finish this Magma, he's done." My fire type nodded as I pointed to the final pokemon. "Finish it with lava plume!"

My fire type nodded before spitting out lava from his mouth which burned its way into the sides of the pokemon. It barely even had a chance to cry out before it fell to the ground, defeated.

 _Wait…_

 _Did we just win the Grand Festival…?_

"The rookie did it!" Lori screamed as soon as the battle was over and it was then that heard the crowd screaming unlike moments before. I'd been so lost in the battle; I'd forgotten I'd had so many spectators. "Eira Helaine has won the forty-fifth Grand Festival!"

The moments afterward were of a daze where I was give the trophy that only top coordinators could win. My team was just as stunned as I was before they were all released, even the heavily wounded Bubbly, to celebrate.

We actually won…

 **Rosalie's Point of View:**

The events of the Grand Festival worked out in our favor. With everyone's attention on it, no one knew the operations we were conduction behind the scenes. There was no stealing of objects or taking over of cities, but jobs that were needed, such as kidnapping legendary pokemon, were more than necessary for this plan.

With most everyone distracted with the weeklong event, we were able to set up the operations at every lake in the region. The only one that the commanders of Cyrus' group were nervous about being caught at was Lake Valor which was only a town's distance away from the Grand Festival itself.

The only mishap we had was the grunt, but it was part of the plan for him to be lost. He was a distraction and was met everywhere _but_ at any of the bases, and it worked out well. With a commander at each lake, we'll discover the exact location of the legendary pokemon and remove them for the power we need them for.

Soon… the legendary pokemon of this region would be under our control… and Violet would be able to do nothing…

And this time… she and her little group… and the Helaine girl, Cyrus' child, will go down…

I laughed. _Now comes the fun part!_

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Well, that just happened! Rose knows about Eira! Eira won the Grand Festival and we actually find out another portion of their plan! And that grunt was just a distraction?! Oh what are we going to do? Nobody knows! Well… except for me! You guys have no idea how much is going to happen in the second half of this story, and trust me, it's going to be crazy!**

 **So I'll leave you guys with this champion length of a chapter and I'll see you guys next week and finally we'll get a new pokemon(ish) for Eira and her team! It's been over ten chapters since the last!**

 **Love you all and see you next week!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	19. Island for Training

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 19: Island for Training?_

 **Eira's Point of View:**

It had been a few weeks since the end of the Grand Festival and when I'd become its winner. My mother was so thrilled that she couldn't let go of me at all for the rest of the week up until the party later that night with my friends, family, and many others that competed and wished to congratulate me.

I received my trophy, a large, golden one that was larger than me, shaped truly like a wine glass shape with curled metal handles that curved back into the bottom of the base of the top portion. A bright ruby was placed at the top of the rim with two smaller diamonds on either side of the ruby. And this pattern was on each side.

Once the entire celebration was over, we went right into Christmas and the new year constantly celebrating and training as we prepared to head out to the west side of the region. We were actually splitting up for a time being, Cameron, Parker and I, when we first got to Canalave City. The plan was that Cameron wanted to check out some of the material in the library and match it up with his and professor's research and see what needed to be checked and/or corrected. Parker wanted to head right over to the gym and get his next gym badge, however, it was supposed to be a steel type gym, so he was a bit disadvantage, or at least that was what I thought before.

On our way to the city itself, we had nearly an entire region to cross around and between to get to the city that held the six gym leader. During that time frame, Parker managed to catch himself a buizel (the pre-evolved form of one of Wake's pokemon that he wanted so desperately) and a ponyta. The second of the two was a fire type and that pokemon would help Parker greatly when it came to the steel type gym; however, it also had some steel types that also doubled as ground types, so his water and grass types would come in handy for that situation.

I, on the other hand, needed a bit of time alone with my pokemon and to get away from those that were too energetic for my liking (Parker had nearly driven me insane with his energy after the party and all the Christmas food and sugar he consumed…) so my plan was to have a day of training all to myself on an island nearby. It was nearly abandoned except for the single man who lived there by the name of Riley Audrey. He was a close friend of both Mira and Cheryl so I was going to take a private ferry to meet before going off on my own on the island. It wasn't huge, but it was large enough to enjoy getting lost in for the day. I had bought more than enough food for Bubbly and the others to hold us over until we came back.

It took us a couple weeks after we left Pastoria. We had decided to leave New Year's Day (after we had slept in of course) and we had run into some weather issues along the way that forced us to stop in some towns to avoid the snow storms that came from the north in the mountains and from the northern climate. I didn't mind the cold or the weather much; it was familiar to me, so it made me look forward to when I headed to the north for the gym past the one we were focused on at the time.

"Alright Eira, we'll see you later tomorrow, right?" Parker was giving me his good-bye with Cameron on the docks before I was going to get on a small boat that would be taking me to Iron Island where people would often train. Riley was waiting for me there.

"Mmm-hum…" I nodded to him as I held Bouncy in my arms and my team hung around me (with the exception of Magma who didn't care for the cold.) They were excited for more training on the island inside the caves and away from most people for a while. It excited them also because they were going to get more out into the battling world were as we'd been working on contests only for the last month or so…

"Well then, we'll see you later Eira, take care of yourself and train hard." Cameron told me while Cleffa cried out in his arms. He chuckled and shifted her around before she snuggled under the edge of his jacket for a nap.

"See ya Eira!" Parker waved to me as I stepped onto the boat with my team. Bubbly decided she was going to follow the boat and swim since I'd been too long since she got to enjoy a large body of water. I watched her intently from over the edge with Elecky and Bouncy as we sat toward the back on a cold, strapped down seat.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"Hey kid, we're here!" I was given a gentle nudge by the man who offered to drive me out here since he was delivering some supplies to Riley as well. I was lucky to have run into this man when I was walking around the city.

The man grabbed the items that he was to deliver while I looked over the edge of the boat to see where we were. The island itself seemed to be mostly of rock and metal, I could see the natural flakes that shimmered off the rocks when the sun hit them. There was, however, an entrance to a cave a good ways onto the island along with a small house, a simple two story of light grey color with a grayish blue trimming and some stakes that were on the side of it, which I assumed to be a garden for either flowers or vegetables.

I felt some water hit the side of me and turned. Bubbly had jumped out of the water and shook off the water from her swim. She sent me a nervous smile when she noticed she'd gotten some of the ocean water on me and I could only roll my eyes at her silliness.

"Ah, you made it Eira!" I lifted my head to look up the path to see a young man with long black hair under a blue fedora hat, a blue button up jacket with black pants and shoes. He smiled with his arms crossed up above with his partner pokemon of a lucario at his side. I saw the pokemon nod to us before I made my way up the stairs to meet up with the young man.

The driver of the boat made his way up behind me and when we both made it up to the top; he handed off some bags to Riley. "Here you go bud, don't go through it too fast!"

"I won't, and I appreciate you going out of you way to bring those items and Eira to me." The man left back to his ship and slowly left while Riley led me within his home. I was happy to be here where it was so quiet and with a person who seemed to match a bit more in personality with me. Once we stepped inside, warm colors of a soft golden yellow coated the entry room before it turned into red as Riley entered the kitchen with his pokemon to take care of the food.

It took him a few minutes, but once he was done, he joined me in the other room with a mug of what I could smell to be mint tea. I smiled at him as he handed it to me and led me over to the table. He sat down and I did as well with Bouncy sitting on my lap. Elecky rolled onto the ground at my feet and Bubbly stood off to the side where a fire was going in the fire place to the side. Magma released himself and joined her.

"Thank you…" I nodded to the older male in thanks.

"Not a problem," Riley commented with a light smile before his face turned to a grim line. "Actually, I hate to ruin your time for coming out here Eira, but I was wondering if you would be willing to help me with something?"

"Help?" I was a little confused in that moment. What on earth would this man want from me?

"I know you had come out here for some training of your own, however, recent events have put me in a difficult spot." He sighed as he starred down at his beverage before him before looking at me again. "Team Galactic is on my island."

My eyes widened in shock. _Why in Arceus's name would they be here? Other then trainers and some of the minerals here on the island, there really isn't much for them to get from here, right? I was very confused at that point, however, I was still angered by the fact that they dared to show their faces here._

"I damn well don't want them here, but I'm not forceful enough to take them out on my own. Even with Lucario's help, she and I can only do so much over the entire island." He spared a glance to his partner who crossed her arms and huffed. "So I'm asking for your help Eira."

"Of course." I nodded to him easily enough. I wouldn't stand for those horrendous people to be ruining such a wonderful location for trainers and pokemon alike. "When do we leave?"

"As soon as you're ready."

I nodded to him and pulled the thermos out of my bad and poured my tea into it. With my tea safely secured inside and my pokemon already to their feet and at my side, I stood up and waited for Riley.

"I'm ready."

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"So the area we're heading toward is one of the deeper sections of the island itself. Its where a lot of trainers and strong pokemon gather to train and find out who's the strongest down here. It's like a competition of sorts." Riley lightly chuckled as we walked through the dimly lit paths with oil lanterns and cracks through the ceiling to where the sun still was high and glittering through.

"Will trainers stop us then?" I was thinking that the trainers on the island may try to stop the two of us in order for a battle, which would slow us down considerably as we were trying to make our way to the deeper portion of the island itself.

"Normally they just leave myself alone unless I ask for a battle myself to stay in shape. It's not often since I'm normally too busy. We may be stopped, but think little of it."

Bouncy was in my arms and looking all around her before her attention turned to me. She lightly patted my cheek in reassurance and I smiled at her. We would take these fools down, nothing would stop that.

It was a long travel through the tunnels. We ran into many trainers who seemed to know Riley well or were meeting him and his partner pokemon for the first time. They greeted him and we said our good-byes as soon as possible to avoid others for knowing what our true purpose was. Thankfully, no one questioned Riley or myself since he traveled the tunnels often, especially with his companions, and I was explained to others that I was a new friend. It made it an easy story to believe because it was true, I was a new companion to him, and we were traveling the tunnels together, however, we didn't give the entire truth.

It took us a couple of hours to make it to lower levels of the area. Riley was quiet for most of the time due to his concentration level and how he looked at every detail in the landscape that he knew and to see if there was any difference. I could tell how stressed this situation seemed to make him, so I opted to stay quiet until we had made confrontation with our enemy.

I could only imagine what the few or many Team Galactic grunts could be doing to the location, mining materials, capturing and stealing pokemon, I could only guess what as to what they wanted or needed. It had been a while since I'd seen them other then the single one I saw at the festival that Violet and Alex had taken care of.

"Hold on…" I instantly halted in my steps as Riley stepped forward to look at something on the wall. It was difficult for me to see, but there was a certain chipping out of the wall, more then what was naturally in these stones. Riley ran his fingers over it and his fingers traced the path of what seemed to be an 'x' mark, hinting that this was the place to be.

"I'm assuming they will be up ahead?" I questioned the man.

"Yes," Riley hissed as he pulled his hand away from the wall. "It seems they've been stealing something from my island."

"Do you think its materials or pokemon that they're taking?"

"Pokemon," Riley sighed. "I've noticed a decrease in the amount of them I've been seeing lately here on the island. I'm more then sure that's their primary operation here. And if there after pokemon, then they're working on an even larger operation, either gathering workers or an army."

I nodded to him before we continued on our way down the path before we came to an opening where we found a small group of them, the grunts that was. I could see them cornering pokemon with their own that they had captured. Many of the pokemon in the area were fighting back compared to running. It seemed to be more of the style of the characters here in this cave. I could see that the pokeballs they had filled with pokemon were in a container to the side, all the pokeballs seemed to have some sort of lock on each of them to prevent them from escaping.

"So here's where their operations been…" Riley cursed. He turned to look at me. "Shall we?"

"Of course." I nodded and my battling team released themselves from their pokeballs along with Riley's single pokemon. Bouncy giggled in my arms as we stepped out from where we stood in the tunnel entrance before the Team Galactic members noticed us.

"Hey! It's the Riley guy!" one of them shouted. "He found us!"

"The Helaine girl is with him! Get them!"

We were suddenly surrounded. Many pokemon of dark, poison and ground types were set up against us. The pokemon suddenly rushed at us and I sighed as they came close.

"Do as you wish, just don't hurt them too terribly or kill them." My team grinned and rushed forward to defend the two of us from the other pokemon. Riley's single pokemon was similar in that manner and I watched the four of them together go on a spree of taking down weaker pokemon themselves. Fire, water, electricity and fighting type moves filled the room and let us see a sort of firework like display of color and sound. I could hear many loud explosions from all the powerful attacks that the others were using.

"Let's release the captured pokemon before they have a chance to move them." I nodded to the young man before walking with him to the container of thousands of pokeballs.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"Bun bun!" Bouncy squealed in my arms as we made our way back out of the cave once we had our way with the Team Galactic grunts. We had freed all the pokemon and they either went off to their homes or helped us in wrapping up the grunts in rope to trap them until Riley could get a team of officers to get them. We had to head outside of the cave in order to get a signal of any kind. Luckily, Riley knew a short cut to another surface area of the island, and after that, it was just walking around some surface of the mountain in order to reach his home once more. We'd left Bubbly and Magma to watch them in case anything happened or more of them showed up. So we only had Lucario, Elecky, and Bouncy with us at the time.

It took us a little while, maybe twenty minutes or so, but compared to the hours we spent searching out the caves, this was nothing. Once we had made it to the top, Riley contacted the authorities and it wasn't before long that a boat was approaching the island with one of the IPHP League members on board, Aaron and Levy (who had permission to join him for that excursion.)

We stood on the perch of ours overlooking the island for a while. Riley seemed to enjoy the peace now that it was restored and was now talking quietly with his partner pokemon while I played with Bouncy and Elecky. My electric type seemed to like the terrain because of how rough it was and how high up she was in altitude should a thunderstorm would roll by and Bouncy seemed to be enjoying the fact that there was some sun and warmth.

I sat on Elecky's back as she was more than willing to carry me around while Bouncy was springing herself from one rock to the next. She seemed to be having a lot of fun while I saw that her scarf was getting her tangled up in herself every now and then.

"Bouncy, come give me your scarf so you don't have to worry about it." My normal type nodded to me and prepared to make the jump back when she was caught on her scarf. My eyes widened as it wrapped itself around her leg and tugged her down.

"Bouncy!" I leapt off of Elecky's back and grabbed the scarf she was tangled with just in time before we were dangling off the side of a steeper part of the mountain. Elecky had seen me fall and grabbed the belt around my waist, the only thing holding me up at the moment.

The momentary heart attack raced through me before I held Bouncy close to me while Elekcy slowly pulled us up. Riley and his pokemon rushed over as well and grabbed onto my arms just in time to get me back to my feet. I sighed when I stood before I turned to Bouncy who hugged me tightly in her arms

"Be more careful Bouncy…" I said. She cried out and nodded in my shoulder and I held her closer while Riley looked us over.

"What happened Eira?" He placed a hand on my shoulder while still checking me over for bruises or blood. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine…" I smiled sheepishly at him. "Bouncy was tripping on her scarf, and I asked her to come over so I could hold onto it while she played, but she tripped and was going to fall, so… I dived after her…"

"Well I'm glad to see that your pokemon is safe… in fact… you tend to mother her a bit, don't you?"

"A bit… I guess…" I kissed Bouncy's head lightly before pulling her under my jacket to keep her warm. "I worry about her more than the other pokemon… because of what she's gone through… and how young she is… and how people have hurt her…"

"Then I think you might be the exact person for a job I've been looking for, as well as Lucario." I blinked at the two of them while Riley offered me a hand. "Let's head back to the house and I'll explain there. It'll be easier…"

I couldn't help but stare at him the entire way back in curiosity…

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"Ah, home sweet home… and no troublesome people for us to worry about either, eh Lucario?" Riley looked back at his pokemon as we all walked through the doorway and his pokemon nodded. "Why don't you go get _it_ and I'll start explaining to Eira what's going on?"

His pokemon only sighed, but nodded lightly to him before walking up the stairs to their home.

"Riley?" The older male turned to us as I blinked at him in confusion. In the time frame that it took us to get back, Magma and Bubbly were waiting for us by the cottage itself because Aaron and Levy had already gathered all the members from team Galactic for interrogation about their group as well as Rosalie Agustino.

We all we waiting inside the warm house now for the explanation as to what he was talking about and why his pokemon seemed so uneasy. The pokemon seemed to be a bit more ridged since he's mentioned that to me, almost as if a fight was going to break out, but I couldn't understand why.

"Now look, let me explain before I rile up Lucario any more then I already have." Riley had us sit back down at the table while he raised his arms to place on the table and folded his hands to let his chin rest on them. "Lucario and I had been traveling a good few months back when we encountered a small group of other lucario that had been traveling in the mountains and one of them fell for Lucario herself. She'll admit it was just a fling because she'd never felt these feelings before, but the result in the end was that she produced an egg.

"She hasn't seen the other lucario since, but she's worried and feels that she's not ready to be a mother and that she would do poorly. So she wants someone she can trust to take on the responsibility, however, that's been hard since she's somewhat attached. I talked about it with her many times during our adventures in the cave, but it was your act of saving your young buneary that won her over. She trusts the strength your team has and the loving care that you do, and she wants you to look after her egg and raise the child."

I blinked at him a few times. "You… want me… to raise her egg…?"

"Yes… We believe that her baby will be safe and learn a lot for you." Riley took one of my hands in his own and held it tight. I could feel the shaking from how hard this was for them. "Please say yes… you're the only one after all these months that Lucario has agreed to let have the egg, and it'll be hard on both of us, but that's what we believe is best for the child."

"Then… okay… I'll do it…" I slowly nodded to him. "Will… Lucario want to see the child in the future?"

"Yes, she actually was going to ask you about that when she came back down." Riley looked up to the stairs. "She's probably saying her final good-bye…"

"I'm not leaving until the morning… she can have all the time she wants for that." I squeezed his hand back in my own gentle way.

Riley smiled. "Thank you Eira, you have no idea how much pressure this takes off our shoulders. Not only will Lucario have her focus back, but she'll be able to rest easy knowing her child is in safe hands."

I nodded. "I'll make sure the child knows who its mother is and as much as I can tell them. I won't let them not know about her…"

"I knew I could count on you."

We heard a squeak of the floor boards and saw Lucario slowly emerge with an egg that resembled her fur color was deeply wrapped into her arms. She starred at it longingly before she dared to look up at me.

"I've agreed to take the egg, but take all the time you need for a temporary good-bye Lucario, I won't leave until morning."

The pokemon nodded to me, yet she still approached the table where I sat. Bouncy moved herself up to my shoulder as the pokemon slowly handed the egg to me and I wrapped it gently in my arms so it was nestled there.

"It's warm…" I leaned my head down to the edge of the shell to listen for the pounding heartbeat. I looked up at the mother. "You've done well raising your egg. It looks really healthy…" I reached out a single arm to touch Lucario's. "I won't let them forget you."

Tears welled up in her eyes as she nodded to me. She held out her hands once more and I gently handed her back her egg so she could cherish it a bit longer. Riley put a hand on his pokemon's shoulders and nodded slowly to her.

"Like Eira said, take your time."

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Awe! A much shorter chapter then what we're used to, but such a sweet and sad ending! I felt kinda bad when I was writing this because I'd hate to take the child of anyone, but it was a difficult decision for them to give it up, and poor Lucario… but this does mean that Eira will have a new member at some point! And since it's a strait descendant of lucarios, I'm sure you know what the pokemon is compared to the guessing in story two with that egg!**

 **So now we're starting to get back on track, but Team Galactic is going to start getting really rowdy soon! We're really starting to get where it's going to be crazy!**

 **So I'll see you guys next time with another chapter! Love you all and don't forget to Review and send in Questions!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	20. A Line of Gym Leaders

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 20: A Line of Gym Leaders_

 **Eira's Point of View:**

It wasn't until well into the next morning when we decided to leave the island. Lucario still had a difficult time to say good-bye to her egg, so we offered to let them come with us back to the main land for another hour of time. She spent the time holding dearly onto her egg as we slowly approached the shore of the main land where the harbor was. It was only once we landed on the shore that I gave a sad look to the mother as she slowly handed over her egg to me. I held it in my arms and Bouncy sat on my shoulder before gently patting the egg.

"Don't worry, we'll take and give your child the best care we can." The mother nodded slowly to me before I turned to Riley. "Would you like me to send you updates on how the child is doing?"

"Lucario and I would love that." Riley smiled at the kind gesture. "We'll be expecting updates if anything happens."

"Of course." I smiled to them before taking a step back, preparing to leave. "I hope to hear from you soon."

"And us as well." Riley patted my shoulder before turning to his pokemon. "Shall we Lucario?"

The mother was staring at her egg that was nestled in my arms before she slowly turned to her trainer and made her way to follow her back to the boat. Riley and his partner were to meet up with some of the others on the island, now that the issue with Team Galactic was dealt with.

Once they were far enough from us, I began to silently move through the port town to head over to where the gym was. My team followed after me silently. Most trainers nowadays didn't care for letting their pokemon walk at their side while traveling. I didn't approve of those people, because in my mind, those that couldn't walk beside their pokemon weren't worthy to be with them. I dealt with their looks because they didn't faze me.

"Eira!" I was surprised to hear my name and looked up to find my two close human friends rushing toward me from apparently where they were eating lunch. "Hey! How was Riley and the island?" Then his eyes traveled to my arms. "What's that?"

"It looks like a pokemon egg," Carmon noted as he came over as well. His eyes shifted over it before looking back at me. "Eira… how did you get this egg?"

"Riley… he gave it to me after I helped him deal with Team Galactic on the island…"

"They were out there?" Parker blinked at me in shock. "Why in hell would they be out there?"

"Gathering pokemon…" I sighed as I thought back to when we intruded upon their operation. Many of the members were not only shocked that we found them, but also that we took down their operation so quickly. I remembered while the fight was on and I was helping to release the pokemon from their altered pokeballs to prevent release.

"Were you able to stop them?" Cameron questioned.

"Mhh…" I nodded to him, holding onto the egg in my arms a little more tightly. Bouncy slid down my arm and sat in the bend of my arm to keep the egg more warm. It was still bitter cold around, even in this port city on the western portion of the region.

"Well, that's good to hear, and you got an egg to raise too!" Parker walked next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "But now we better get you to the gym! You gotta win your next badge so we can head up north to Snowpoint."

"Although, the professor asked us to wait a bit," Cameron noted, holding Cleffa a bit more tightly while the pokemon squealed at her father. "He's leaving soon and plans to meet with us in the morning. It has something to do with Team Galactic and his research."

That made me blink as I looked over at Cameron with Parker quickly doing the same. It was rare for the professor to call us out like that, more so if he needed to talk to us so importantly about something in person.

 _It would be a strange day tomorrow…_

"Anyway, we can't worry about it now, we gotta get you to that gym first Eira." Parker pulled me along, careful not to move or shove the egg in my arms that Bouncy and I were holding. "If we want to head up to Snowpoint, we gotta get you through the gym, and then we can do anything else we want for the rest of the day while we wait on the Professor."

I nodded slowly to them before we made our way to the other side of the coastal town. We had to cross a bridge in order to make it to where we needed to be. The city itself was cut in half by a river that flowed to the north and cut the town in half. It was a beautiful view as wingull traveled through the area in flocks. The early rising sun was already at its highest point today and glittered on the water's surface as well as the snow and ice that hung off the buildings and on the shore and sidewalks.

These were some of things I loved best about my region, we had winter. Winter itself was a beautiful season. All the things that couldn't handle the heat were here. It was beautiful to see the world that we couldn't live in because it was too cold for us, but even to see its wonders for a short period of time brought joy to myself.

"Here we are Eira!" Before me stood a building that was different from the entire town in the sense of look and structure. It was a building made entirely of metal walls and beams to hold it together which seemed to hold out the cold breeze that blew past us. I shivered a bit from the cold, enjoying it and feeling a bit of excitement. Battles were getting more and more exciting for me and I was more than happy to participate in more.

Once we stepped inside, I watched as the cold walls of metal led us down within the building. It was only a bit of a ways to walk before I could hear voices that seemed to echo off the walls toward us. I could only blink at them in question as I continued to make my way down the hallway with my friends behind me.

When the tunnel opened up, I was surprised to see that there was two men here rather than one, proving to me that what I heard in the hallway was correct. They stood in the middle of a metal room with bright lights blaring down onto the field. The two men were just out of the light, on the gym leader's side of the field.

"Oh hey! It's Eira! She's here to battle you Dad!" I was surprised to see Roark show up from the darker side of the area. He appeared in the light, but I could tell that there was someone standing behind him.

"Oh? And it looks like Parker returned after getting my badge, this your friend, kid?" I was surprised when I saw a man looking nearly double Roark's age stepped out into the light his skin was a bit lighter then Roark's, but the hair color was the exact same of rich, maroon that I'd seen on Roark, however, it was messy and spiked. Their dark eyes matched in color, but this man wore no glasses. He wore a stained wife beater as well as a shortened brown cloak that hung over his shoulders and the same miner pants that Roark wore.

Were these two related?

"Long time no see you guys!" Roark came over to us quickly. "How have you been?"

"Hey Roark!" Parker grinned and shook the man's hand before us. "Just getting all our gym badges. Eira's here for the next one and she won the latest Grand Festival!"

"Really?" The man's eyes glittered a bit at that. "Damn… I knew you were strong, but that strong? You'll be taking on the Pokѐmon League before long!"

I blushed a bit at his words and lowered my head. It was an impressive title… but sometimes I felt my victory was a little off since some of the people I battled had forfeit or were too easy of a battle, like they set me up for the win. However, other times I knew it was because my pokemon were monstrously strong. It vanquished the thoughts in my mind, but sometimes it still bothered me.

"But you'll have to battle my dad before you can get there Eira!"

Roark's other comment forced me to blink in wonder as I looked to the man next to Roark. True, they shared many features that seemed to match and it wouldn't surprise me that the two were related.

"The name's Bryon Agate kid." The older man held out his hand for me to shake. I slowly held it out for him and he roughly took it and shook it, nearly taking my arm with it. When he let my hand go, I held it close to me with my other arm and he chuckled at me. "I can't believe you're the one who wiped the floor with my son."

"Trust me Dad, she's much stronger then she appears to be." Roark shook his head at his father. "She's just not really good at dealing with people."

"We'll see." The man turned then and went back to where his spot on the field was. "So you gonna battle me or not?"

I scowled at the man. He was particularly rude, but I'm sure that just had to do with my personality and maybe something between his son and himself. That was none of my business, but I would not let that stop me from winning.

I moved back to my box while Parker and Cameron headed to the seats. Cameron had a hold of my egg, which Cleffa was not pleased with, but Parker knew that Cameron was the better one to hold onto the fragile life of the egg. He didn't feel confident at all with it in his arms.

"Three on three match kid, I hope you're ready." Bryon was watching me for any sort of reaction. Maybe he was more upset with the fact that he wasn't able to read me well because of my shyness?

"I am." I looked back at my team before nodding to the one who was planned to go out. "Magma." My fire type stomped out onto the field then while the rest of my team gathered themselves and crowded around me. Bouncy sat in my arms as something for me to grab onto while Elecky and Bubbly stood at my side, ready for the action.

"Hm… so that's who you plan to fight with…" Bryon seemed to watch my pokemon in a bored manner. "I've taken down pokemon like yours before. I hope you understand that."

"Magma won't be taken down…" My eyes narrowed slightly at the man who was quickly earning my disgust. He was much like his son in the beginning with not believing me, but he had a much harsher way of going about it. Did Roark always have to deal with this man like that?

"Let's see what you got." Bryon threw out a pokeball. "Start us off Magneton."

The first of his team quickly emerged. I saw it was the electric and steel type pokemon that often fly around in groups with its smaller, pre-evolved form of magnemite. I could see the electricity bouncing off its body and trying to intimidate me or Magma. It did no such thing.

"Flamethrower." I didn't give the man a chance to announce if he would attack first or I before I unleashed it. The flames that burst from Magma's hands heated the entire field like we were in the middle of an inferno. The pokemon just barely missed the attack, crying out as it dived under it and Bryon also having to move. His son was smart to stay a safe distance away over with the boys in the stands. They all looked nervously at me and at the hole I put through the wall with a single attack from Magma.

"What the actual hell?" Bryon whipped around his head to evaluate the damage I did and his pokemon that was freaking out on the ground. It breathed a few more times before fainting from the fear. Bryon's eyes widened and an eyebrow rose before he looked back to myself and Magma. My eyes were narrowed at him, waiting to see what would happen while steam was rolling off of Magma's molten hot body that caused this room to feel more like a sauna. I actually liked that he opened a hole to the winter wonderland that stood outside, it offered a cooler breeze for this room.

"I hope you don't plan to underestimate Magma again." I turned my head slightly while looking at him with my narrowed eyes. "You might not end up so lucky with your pokemon just fainting from shock."

"Dad! I told you about her! Take her seriously or she'll wipe the floor with you too!" Roark shouted out from the sidelines. His face looked slightly worried and upset at the same time.

"Go Eira!" I had my own person team of cheerleaders when it came from Parker and his team.

"So the rumors about you are true…" Bryon scowled a bit before he returned his pokemon and pulled out another one. "It gets serious now. Go Steelix!"

The iron snake pokemon soon appeared before us and Magma looked up at him in a slightly bored manner. The last pokemon he'd face hadn't even put up a fight and fainted upon just _seeing_ the attack. _Would this one be similar?_

"Rock throw!" Bryon seemed to finally put on a serious demeanor and was attacking. The snake buried its tail into the floor of earth and yanked out large pieces of earth to throw at Magma. My fire type threw his arms at the boulders as they came at him and shattered them to pieces with landed all around him.

Bryon was not pleased with that, neither was his pokemon.

"So I see… your pokemon is strong…" I watched as the man gritted his teeth. "But now you'll feel my steel attacks. Gyro ball!"

I was surprised when I saw a bright ball of shining metal appear before the steelix before it was hurled at Magma.

"Flamethrower." Magma threw up his arm and blasted out fire from them to stop the attack in its place. The metal fell to the floor and coated over the ground. I watched as my opponent seemed to fluster over his failing attacks.

"Try this then, flash cannon!" I was thrown for a bit when a blinding light cut myself off from seeing Magma on the field. I heard him grunt and sharp objects were flown threw the air. Bubbly I heard race before me and put her arm before me, her metallic body protecting me from what seemed to be a shard of reflective metal on the ground.

The light faded and I looked ahead to see Magma had been hit. He hadn't been able to see. Metallic shards were all over the front of Magma's body, his face the only part of him really protected from the attack. I could see he was bleeding from the sheer force of the attack and how deeply the shards were in his body. He had already raised the temperature of his body to melt them out of his body, but then there came the blood. It coated his arms, legs and chest.

I gasped. "Magam! Are you alright?"

My pokemon turned his head back and gave me a grin, even with all the blood coating his entire body and the top part of his head and flowing down over his face. It was haunting to see, but if he was okay, that's what mattered.

I glared to the other side of the field. Bryon had hurt my pokemon, even if Magma wouldn't tell me he was hurt, I knew he was suffering. That attack had caught us off guard.

"No more playing Magma. Fire blast!" Both his arms came forward and fire blared out of his arms, taking over the entire field. I could hear the cry of the other pokemon and watched it shadow fall in the mist of the flames. A crash forced the entire field to shake before Magma pulled back on his flames, letting them die on the wind before we saw the charcoaled body.

Bryon flinched at the look of his pokemon before returning it. He took a long look at the pokeball before looking up at me with my bleeding pokemon just shortly before myself.

Finally I saw a grin show up on that man's face on the other side of the field. "So my son wasn't kidding…" he started laughing and I was shocked to see that a smile of sheer enjoyment on his face. "I don't even care if I lose! Powerful people like you don't come along everyday!" He pulled out a final pokeball. "Show me all you got kid, defeat me like no other trainer has done before! Let's go Bastiodon!"

I was shocked at the next pokemon he threw out against us. The pokemon was larger than Magma himself. The pokemon's body was a yellow like color with steel like protectors over its feet as all four of them were on the ground. A steely spine was protruding out of the pokemon's back while a heavily plated shield like mask was on the pokemon's face. It was all a dark grey in color. Two spikes poked out sideways from what appeared to be its nostrils and I could make out four large teeth that could tear nearly everything apart.

I pulled out my pokedex to see what this strange new pokemon was. _Bastiodon, the shield pokemon and the evolve form of shieldon. When attacked, they form a wall. Their-rock hard faces serve to protect them from the attacks. It is a docile pokemon that feeds on grass and berries. There are no known bastiodon nests in this region._

 _So this pokemon heavy on the defense… it might take a while to take it down… even with Magma's strong attacks if I'm looking at this information right. Not many physical attacks will make it past the head,_ _ **especially**_ _if they're not coated with fire… and I'm not even sure if that would work as well…_

However, I was happy that the man was finally taking me seriously. Sadly, it was with his final pokemon on the field and not one before that, however, it still made me happy regardless, because now, Magma and I could go all out.

"See how tough that defense really is Magma, fire punch!" My pokemon grinned before taking off down the field, faster then he normally was due to the adrenaline. His fists both became covered in flames as he approached the other pokemon.

"Keep it at bay Bastiodon! Ancient power!" The last pokemon cried out as rocks suddenly appeared into the air and were chucked at my pokemon. Magma either ducked under, jumped over or moved left and right. He didn't stop his pace one bit. Bryon's grin never faltered, even as he saw the attack coming.

"Iron defense!" The enemy pokemon planted its face down and a metallic coating appeared all over its body. Magma's fist hit its face only a moment after and the sheer force of his fist did nothing, in fact, I watched my poekmon hurled backward because of the hit. Magma landed back on his feet after being flipped a few times before growling at the pokemon in malice. He was really getting into it then…

"Magam, flamethrower!" His arm came forward and shot out fire at the opposing pokemon, to which it stood strong and took the hit, its face protecting its body from the hit.

 _So does that mean its face keeps it from taking series hits? Should I be hitting from behind it?_ My silent questions were answered as soon as I looked giant face on the other side of the field. Just past its face, it seemed to limping on a partially burned foot. _So I was right… its face is nearly indestructible, however, if you get around the face, the rest of the body is much more susceptible to an attack… However, that shield like head could get in my way if I can't stop that pokemon from moving…_

I smiled as a plan came to form in my skull. "Magma! Use earthquake!"

My fire type grinned as he launched his body upwards before slamming back down. There was no way for the pokemon to evade this hit since it was under it rather then head on. I watched it cower and cry before falling into the broken rocks, trying desperately to move.

"Jump over it Magma! Then use fire blast on the other half of its body!"

"So you figured it out eh?" Bryon's pleasure never seemed to fade. "Well, I got one more thing up my sleeve. Metal sound!"

"Raa!" The pokemon's body shook in the ground before a screeching sound came over the entire area. A metal on metal scratching and screeching sound nearly imploded my ear drums on impact and I screamed out from the pain ringing in my ears.

Magma I saw was no better as I feel the ground and he followed suit behind the pokemon after successfully making it to the other side. He raised his arm anyway, sacrificing his ear and fire overcame the field and hit the pokemon. The metal sound stopped, but it was replaced with screaming instead. I looked up only to see the steel type fall to the ground and collapse.

The air went silent and I fearfully turned to the stand, looking at Parker for my egg in fear that it had been harmed. I was surprised to see his munchlax next to him and I saw the pokemon cough up something before I saw it was my egg, slightly covered in saliva from Munchlax's mouth. I sighed when I saw the egg was alright.

"Nice Eira, it's been a long time since I'd been dominated in a battle like that. Your magmortar just doesn't know when to give up, does he?" Bryon came forward from across the field and handed over a badge to me. It was in the shape of three silver pickaxes and three golden stones morphed together into a shield like object. "It's the mine badge; you deserve it after all of that. Now you better sit down, cuz people who aren't used to that attack often-"

I felt myself fall backwards and my vision turn void like. I blacked out…

 **Rosealie's Point of View:**

We had made it to the first location that I had pointed out on the maps. The plan was simple. We needed the three beings of emption that lived at each of the lakes here in the region to steal their power, rip it from their bodies, to create a legendary item that would help us control even more powerful beings. We had everything in place. Now, we just needed to play the waiting game and find the pokemon. It was a psychic type, and those were tricky to find, even with another type just like them. Legendaries were so finicky…

"Sis, we're here at Lake Verity." My brother pulled me from my thoughts as we made it to the quiet lake where all sorts of Team Galactic grunts were setting up trucks and machines, as well as cutting off passage to others in the form of environmentalists.

 _Ha… humans are foolish enough to believe anything we say…_

"This will go easy, a lot easier than some of our past operations." Razi looked out from under his cloak to stare at me. "How are you feeling tonight Rose?"

 _Like nothing could stop me…_ My body was freed from the cloak that covered me, even while my scars had healed, I still hated much of any clothing from how fresh the scares were, only a few months ago from the attack that Violet had unleashed upon me. All of my flesh was now scared with burns, ever portion of my body, even my back which was somewhat protected compared to the rest of my body. My entire skin all over me was red, the only exception was my arms, which were not real due to the fact I lost them years ago.

My hair had been cut short, buzzed to be perfectly honest, since it caught on my skin so often, I couldn't handle it anymore. I removed my locks and the short hair never got in my way now, my kills were more precise. Though I will admit that I missed having them around me… it reminded me much of when I was still with my husband, how he would complement them like an inferno.

"Hey Sis, don't worry, when you're more healed, you can grow your hair back." My brother gently patted my shoulder. "I know how much you loved your hair. You almost _didn't_ let me cut it."

 _It's in the past Razi… we have more things to focus on rather than my hair._ I shook my head as I glanced out to where I saw the water moving on the lake. _Get ready, she's coming._

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Oh shit! Here we go! Another chapter! Eira's knocked out! Rose is on the move for her operation and God knows what else! Now we're gonna start picking up some speed! We'll have some issues and we still have that cute little egg to hatch soon! Better stay tuned to see what happens if you're curious!**

 **Alright, so now let's move on, I've got a million and ones things to do before this story ends and I'd love to hear what you guys have to say! Love you all and see you next week!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	21. The Trouble of Team Galactic

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 21: The Trouble of Team Galactic_

 **Eira's Point of View:**

I had come to later the same night that I'd fainted from the metal sound attack from Bryon's final pokemon. My friends had rushed me to the pokemon center, but since this had happened quite a few times when people faced off against Bryon, no one thought much of it, not even me when I woke. I was checked over, my ear drums were fine, and I felt relatively okay. We took little time after that getting ready and then headed over to the library in town to meet up with Professor Rowan.

Casey was worried but also excited to see the professor. He had many things to discuss with the man from all that he had experienced, but what bothered me the most was what the man truly wanted to talk with us about. It was very strange for him to just call us out of the blue in order to speak with us. He didn't feel that it was necessary most of the time to pull us away from our journey and our task with the pokedex.

So I was more than worried.

The library was located just a short distance behind the gym, which honestly surprised me since the gym had so many accidents with fire and battles that it could be dangerous to have this happen to the building. However, Cameron has assured me that it was fine. I had no choice but to believe him.

We made it inside the building and made it up to the top floor. Up there was the professor who seemed to be waiting upon us. His eyes were hard, and I did not like that sign.

My friends seemed not to notice that. "Professor!" Parker waved his hand to the man. "What's up? Haven't seen you for a while. Things okay back home?"

"I believe that would depend on the area you speak of." The professor took a seat and motioned for us to do so as well. "I have been contacted by a man named Looker who had a message for the three of you, and I have my own thoughts to add to this as well."

"Okay…" Parker sat first and I next to him. Cameron dared to sit next to the professor with Cleffa in his arms. She scowled up at his face and tried poking him, which did nothing but cause a worried gaze to fall onto her.

"What's going on Professor?" Cameron questioned.

"It seems that all three lakes around the region have been shut down for biology research as of a few days ago. I was on my way to do some research about the pokemon at the Lake Verity when I was stopped and cut off from the area. Normally I wouldn't have an issue with this sort of thing happening, however…" The professor folded his hands and leaned on them, looking grim. "There are no researchers that are doing a study now that we know of, and I've contracted all that I can think of and they all have made notes that during these early cold months, nothing should be going on."

"You believe this is the work of Team Galactic?" I questioned him softly.

"I do Eira," he nodded. "I need you three to deal with the lakes; it seems that all three of them have been blocked up. I believe it would be in our best interest if you all split up."

Cameron nervously looked up at him. "Professor, I see where you're going… but I don't think-"

"Nonsense Cameron, you'll be fine. You shall handle Lake Valor. Parker, I trust with Lake Acuity near Snowpoint City."

"Got it, Professor!"

"And Eira, I wish for you to handle Lake Verity." I nodded slowly to the man. "Because it is so close by, I wish to go with you and investigate if you wouldn't mind the company?"

I shook my head at him. Of course it wouldn't bother me. I've never had issues with the professor beforehand other then when I'd first met him when he had allowed me to meet Bubbly for the first time before she became one of my most valuable members of my team.

A sudden tremor then caused me to scream out. The entire world around us shook and we were all quick to fall off our chairs. Parker was quick to dive for me and pull me under the table we sat at with the professor and Cameron joining us as well. Cleffa was screaming and Bouncy was holding tightly to the egg before me in a protective manner, using her body to protect it from the floor.

"Everyone hang on!" Professor Rowan cried out as we all hovered under the tables and grabbed onto the legs to stay at least somewhat upright. I clung in fear to Parker, my egg and Bouncy. The four of us tightly wrapped up together while Parker dared to hold a table leg for all of us.

Slowly, the tremors softened up before the land was still once again. My companions all breathed out heavily as we clung to each other and waited for another quake, but none came.

"Is it over?" Cameron clutched Cleffa in his arms while her screaming soon turned to quiet sobbing in his chest. We slowly moved out from under the table to see that most of the building seemed to be intact other than a few knocked over shelves and some loose books on the floor.

"I think so…" Parker slowly let me go, but I still hovered close, the fear still aching throughout my body. Parker saw my arms shaking and helped to pull me out. "Come on Eira, it's okay now."

"Parker is right; it seems that the earthquakes seem to be over with." Professor Rowan stood from his spot and the rest of us quickly followed suit. Parker kept a warm arm around me and I was grateful.

We were suddenly cut off with the television in the library went off, sounding over the loud whispers in the room. A reporter then appeared just south of what seemed to be a forested area that was aflame.

" _This is Mindy Howl reporting live form Lake Valor! We have been cut off to the lake for some time now due to environmental research, but it seems a massive explosion has just taken place here! Rescue teams are on their way, but it seems now that Team Galactic has decided to strike! Everyone please remain calm and lock your doors and windows if you're in the area! The IPHP League will be here soon enough to handle the problem._ "

"But they're scattered throughout the region!" Parker exclaimed as he starred at the screen. "How are they all going to get there in time?"

I knew what needed to be done. Team Galactic was there and causing trouble. I couldn't just sit down and do nothing while pokemon could be hurt… and the legendary pokemon of the lake… is that what Team Galactic is truly after?

"Eira?" I pushed myself out of Parker's arm and rushed down the stairs then to leave the building before I called out Elecky. I couldn't fly, so I'd have to rely on her speed.

"Go Elecky! As fast as you can!"

"Lux!" I grabbed onto the back of her and Elecky was off. She raced over land and jumped over rivers, making quick time of the land that stood in our way.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Elecky has us across the entire region in record time. We finally made it to east edge of Pastoria by the time she had run out of energy. When we had reached there, I returned her to get some rest as well as call out my other two pokemon, Magma and Bubbly. The two of them ran beside me as we hurried to the entrance the lake. I could see that there were some men guarding it as well as police and Aaron and Levy, the first of the IPHP League to show up who were ordering the police around.

"We can't slip through that… they'll know…"

And then my mother would too…

"Em!" Bubbly pointed to a thin path in the woods next to us that was just big enough for me to squeeze through. It was very narrow and the trees thick and matted. But it was a path, away from eyes and all, and that's what mattered.

I returned Bubbly and Magma for a moment as I raced to go through the entrance of the narrow path we found. It was small, and I wasn't able to run through it in fear of hurting Bouncy or my egg, but I weaved my body in and around the thick limbs and roots that were in my way.

It didn't take long to come to an opening in the lake before I gasped at what I could see. The normally spring fed lake was nearly dry. The explosion took up all the water and the pokemon that lived in the lake were all scattered and lying, stuck and harmed on the hard rocks on all different levels of the lake. I noticed a magikarp was the worst of them, unable to move at all. They bobbed and jumped in the air before lifelessly lying on the ground.

I turned my head to see the massive operation of Team Galactic's going on as they seemed to be moving many trucks and containers out of the area. I narrowed my eyes at them before I turned my head to my two strongest.

"Get them." My two powerhouses raced forward and before the evil team knew it; my pokemon had plowed right into the heart of their operation. Screams were quick to fill the area as I watched from the sidelines for a few moments before calling out Elecky once more. She had her breath back and she seemed rested enough. She understood exactly what I wished as she lowered herself so I could sit on her back while she walked through the battlefield. She moved us closer to where the cave sat in the middle of the late, which, now, without the water looked much more like an isolated mountain within a crater.

Elecky moved down the crater before climbing up to the mountain and walking us inside the cave. It was dark inside, and certain patters seemed to appear on the floor from where the water flowed in certain directions to make what appeared to be symbols in the light.

"The mission proceeded without a hitch. Cyrus will be quite pleased…" I looked up ahead to see a man standing in the middle of the cavern. He was dressed in a more unique suit then the other three commanders I'd met had wore, his seemed more thicker and almost armor like, but the distinguishable colors of grey, black and silver were still there and a symbol of the organization on his chest. His hair was a rich blue color, which seemed to be pointed in two spots. It reminded me of a pincer's horns in all actuality.

"And who might you be?" The man had turned around since I had walked in with my pokemon and was watching me. His eyes were dark in color, a darker grey like that stared at me coolly while my fiery gaze met them. "Ah, so Cyrus' daughter decided to come and put a stop to our little plan eh?"

I didn't respond to him, but much like the other three commanders, they had much more of a demanding and aggressive attitude toward others who got in their way. They were also associated with my father.

"Not much of a talker as well, in that retrospect you resemble him quite well, your personality anyway, your looks most defiantly stream from your mother. My, my," the man gave a grin. "Does she know about this?"

Again, I was silent; then again, I'd never really spoken much to the people who caused all these problems. I don't believe I spoke much even in battle to them other then commands to my pokemon, so why should I feel the need to respond to them?

"I'm assuming not, but that just makes it more fun for the rest of us, eh, Eira?" He chuckled. "Just because you're Cyrus' daughter means nothing. Did you know he hasn't spoken a word about you since I've worked for him? And that's been nearly eight years."

He was taunting me, seeing if he could get a reaction of some sort to get me to retaliate. I refused to give into such scum. He watched me as I stood tall and silent before I watched him laugh.

"You really are like him! Taunting and insults do nothing for you!" The man held his chest as he continued to laugh. "Oh if only you were on our side, things would be so much easier." He stopped laughing and narrowed his eyes. "Then again, I doubt you'd want to be associated with that woman…"

"That woman…" I looked away from him as I thought it over before only one person came to mind. "Rose Agustino…"

"Bingo." He grinned before shaking his head at me. "You would have most certainly been higher in rank then myself, but lower than your father and her. Rose even went as far to nearly kill Jupiter one time for being incompetent before that woman…" the man sighed. "If only she's paid attention… because of her stupidity, not only did she make our lady friend mad, but she also lost to you in Eterna. Mars also failed against you in Valley Windworks. I'm here to end that cycle Miss Helaine." He pulled out a pokeball from his pocket. "I'm who you would call Saturn, I am the only of the commanders you've yet to face, however, I will be the last. No longer will you shame our organization!" He tossed the ball. "Go Toxicroak!"

I blinked; unimpressed as he threw out his pokemon that was a poison and fighting type. He had no type advantage against me, but neither did I. It didn't seem to be that strong. Pokemon normally used by these gangs only were intimidating rather than strong. I was not worried in this case.

"Elecky, enjoy yourself." My electric type was sparking as soon as I stepped off her back. She roared before charging at the pokemon. Her teeth bared and sunk into the pouch that hung below its chin. The pokemon screeched out as Elecky used the tender spot to throw it around, much like a rag doll.

The pokemon was chucked to the floor before Elecky began to make her way closer to the opposing pokemon and its trainer. Saturn's eyes widened as he watched my pokemon before looking at me.

"Merciless… just like him…" Saturn clenched his teeth before returning his pokemon, he had failed much like the other commanders had. "But I did my job, not only was the pokemon of this lake captured already and transported, but we've already got set up at the other two. Mars should be capturing the pokemon of Lake Verity as we speak."

My eyes widened as I started him, stunned. _Had I come all this way only to be too late? Did they actually win? Even if I was stronger than them?_

"Sorry Miss Helaine, but it's our win this time." Saturn grinned before something slammed into the wall of the cave and made another entrance on the other side. "See ya!"

"Wait!" I couldn't reach him in time, and neither could Elecky. A psychic type pokemon grabbed Saturn and teleported him away. I clenched my fist before I hurried out of the cave.

When I made it outside I could see that my other two poekmon had quickly disposed of the members that were gathered here at the lake, all of them knocked out and my pokemon hanging over them in case they woke up and tried anything on their watch. When seeing me, my pokemon rushed over, but upon seeing my face, things turned grim between us.

"I have to call Parker… hope that he's still near the lake…" I quickly pulled up my poketch and started pressing buttons, hoping I could reach Parker in time…

 **Parker's Point of View:**

Eira had taken off a long time ago. I was worried for her, but there wasn't much I could do. Cameron didn't feel confident in himself to protect the professor with his team and the professor needed someone to take him back to the lab. I was the strong trainer for that job.

I knew Eira could handle Team Galactic on her own, I also knew her pokemon wouldn't let anything happen to her, but I still couldn't help but worry… she was still just trying to come out as a trainer, and as a person. It was so hard for her to act around others, and I will admit it, it reminds me of when her father was around, the way he acted, that's how she acts1. It makes me worried that she'll take on some of his current traits after what happened to him in the accident…

I led the professor and Cameron back to the lab in Sandgem Town. It would have been quicker if we had more than a pokemon or two that could carry us. I had ponyta who could have carried me, and Cameron had monferno, but the professor is a full grown adult, and he has a bit of a belly…

That would not have ended well… if the pokemon were a bit bigger, then maybe…

I paused on the road. I was just leaving the lab to head to Lake Valor to help Eira when it was her who was calling me in the first place.

"Hello? Eira? What's wrong?" I barely gave my best friend a chance to answer.

" _Parker… its Team Galactic… they already have the pokemon of this lake…_ "

"What?" I stopped in my tracks. "Eira? Are you okay?"

" _I'm fine… I was able to stop them from moving their things… but the commander here, a man by the name of Saturn… he already achieved his mission. Parker,_ " I heard her breathe in heavily. " _They're after the pokemon of the lakes, Saturn said that Mars is at Lake Verity. Please, I don't know if I'll make it in time… please stop her!_ "

"You got it Eira!" I called out ponyta and jumped on her back. I closed off the call and gently hit her sides with my heels. "Let's go!"

Ponyta took not time at all to face over the single route that stood between me and the lake. She jumped over pokemon, dashed through the grass and pushed herself to her limit. As she raced, I could feel her body burning hotter than normal. She cried out as she continued to run before I felt her entire body begin to shift under me.

A bright light came over my fire type. I gasped as she continued to run with me on top of her while he closed in on the lake. I could see the grunts just beyond the glowing edge of my pokemon. She grew in size and a horn pocked out of her forehead before I noticed her gallops became longer. She suddenly doubled her speed before I felt the light release and my pokemon revealed to me she had evolved into a rapidash.

"You're so cool girl!" I brushed her main and she cried out just before she trampled over the grunts that stood guard at the entrance. They screamed out as Rapidash's hooves crushed into their bodies before she continued on.

It didn't take long for the Galactic grunts in the area to notice was here and throw out their pokeballs. I whipped out mine as well to show my newly evolved pokemon just for this occasion.

"Alright, Torterra! Staraptor! Snorlax! Flotazel! Let's go!" All of my pokemon were quick to come out of their pokeballs and cry out at the crowd of grunts before rushing forward to take them on. Rapidash was the only one to remain with me.

I'd been training for a long while, and a majority of my most recent training and battles Eira had not seen, so she hadn't see the accomplishments I'd met. Torterra evolved when I battled my master, Crasher Wake, who also gave me Flotazel as a buizel. Staraptor evolved during the Grand Festival when Eira was training for her matches and I would go off on my own. Snorlax had evolved from my latest gym match with Bryon who I need the high defense to handle his team. I'd saved all the data for the pokemon I didn't know about.

 _Torterra, the continent pokemon and the evolved form of grotle. Some pokemon are born on a torterra's back and spend their entire life there. Groups of this pokemon migrating in search of water have been mistaken for "moving trees". There are no known torterra nests in this region._

 _Staraptor, the predator pokemon and the evolved form of staravia. It never stops attacking even if it is injoured. It fusses over the shape of its comb. It has a savage nature. It will courageously challenge foes that are much larger. There are no known staraptor nests in this region._

 _My team was stronger now; I bet I was even close to beating Eira!_

 _But_ _that could wait… Team Galactic was the issue here right now._ Past all the bodies of the defeated grunts, I could see Mars cursing under her breathe. She had her trusty partner of a purugly at her side that hissed and snarled at me.

"You again?! Of course you would be here…" Mars hissed. "I guess that's better than the girl, at least I'll have a good shot of defeating you before she gets here."

"You're not even worth Eira's time." My eyes narrowed and I was surprised to hear the darkness in them. "I'm dealing with you, you witch!"

"How rude!" She huffed and turned away from me as I stalked forward on Rapidash's back.

I gritted my teeth. "Where's the pokemon of the lake?"

At that, she smiled. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Guys, get her!" My voice rang out and it was quick like that my pokemon surrounded her. Flotazel grabbed the woman's arms to keep her there while Torterra crushed her pokemon into the group. It screeched, but Mars hardly batted an eye while she glared at me. I hopped off of Rapidash and stood before her.

"You think this will intimidate me?" Mars spat at me, hitting my face. "I'm not afraid of some little boy and his girlfriend! Cyrus' brat is so hard to deal with! And he won't give us the order to just kill you all off!"

I reacted.

My arms surged forward and grabbed the front of her, my eyes narrowed, filled with fury. Finally the woman seemed to fear what was before her. It was not a man or a child; it was someone who had suffered. Someone that was angry and needed a way to let out that pent up energy.

"Never insult Eira again." My words would have chilled me, frightened me even if it wasn't for the fact I was so focused and angry with this woman. "You're worth nothing to her."

"Let go of me!" She fought back as I held her there, but my arms would not give. "Why are you so strong?!"

"Because Eira is everything to me2, something that heartless people like you wouldn't understand." Mars stilled as she watched me fearfully, no longer fighting. "I would do anything for her, obey any wish, and crush any opponent. She doesn't need to face you, but its people like you that messed her up in the first place. Why she's so withdrawn, why she won't talk to people or trust others… why she can't be like she used to be!"

I chucked the woman to the ground and grunted as she landed. She fell on her side, holding it gingerly as she looked back up at me with wide eyes. I clenched my hands at my side, controlling myself.

 _Eira wouldn't be pleased if I lost control and hurt someone… she thinks so highly of me… when really… I'm just a possessive freak…_

"Why in hell would you go so far for such a weak, scared and annoying little girl?!"

"Eira is none of those things, bite your tongue." My tone caused her to flinch. "And didn't I tell you already? Eira is my everything. My best friend, the only one I can truly rely on besides my pokemon. She is the love of my life, and no matter what she chooses, I'll be there for her."`

"Too bad she's not here to listen to your undying love for her." She grinned and shifted to get her hand under her side. "You really want to know about our operation? We're stealing the legendary pokemon of the lake to create an item to control even more powerful pokemon to realize our dream! A new world unlike this one!" She coughed into the snow. Red seemed to dripped from her mouth. Had I hit her that hard? "But we have one left, and Jupiter is getting it now. Although with that snow storm, all of us will be slowed down, even you brats wouldn't be stupid enough to travel in it."

Mars ripped something from her belt there, a smoke screen ball of sorts. Before I could move to stop her, it exploded. I coughed as soon as some of the dust made it into my mouth, but the smoke cleaned in an instant with the lake's breeze rushing over us. When I looked again, the woman was gone…

She'd gotten away…

"Parker!" I turned my head then to see the Professor and Cameron rushing up behind me. They must have just gotten here.

I sighed and sucked in a breath to suppress all the negative energy inside my body. I'd always been suffering, must like Eira had. To see her go through everything made me suffer as well, because I felt so helpless and unable to do anything… and when Mars started to speak… I just snapped…

I couldn't let others see it, this anger… I knew it would go away one day, when Eira was back, really back, but until then, I have to hold it in… and keep trying, for her…

"Are you alright Parker?" Professor Rowan placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Of course I am!" I grinned up at the man. "Mars was nothing! But she got away… and the pokemon of the lake is gone too…" I sighed. "Sorry…"

"Eira just called us after she got to you. We hurried over, but we were late too…" Cameron glanced to his feet. "Eira will be devastated."

"Fear not Cameron, there is still one more lake where a pokemon is safe yes?" Professor Rowan told us. "Journey to Lake Acuity and save the final pokemon, no matter what. Meet up with Eira in the mountains, I believe that would be best."

"I'll call her and tell her we're on the way." I looked down to my watch and I sighed.

 _I'm sorry Eira… I couldn't save them… I let my anger take control… something even you haven't seen…_

 **Eira's Point of View:**

I sighed for the millionth time that evening while I waited on Cameron and Parker within Mr. Coronet. Besides splitting the entire region in half, it also served as a path way to arrive at the northern routes normally coated in thick snow. The only time of year that they see spring is in late spring to early fall. I waited by the entrance to the snowy plains while I waited for my friends.

In the time that I had to wait, I thought back much to what Saturn had told me. Was I just like my father? He was so different when I was little to now… would I become like him in time? I was fearful of that. I knew that I had issues with people, busy places and my own insecurity, however, I was still kind to my pokemon and to my friends… would that change in time? Do I have to worry about become a dark, emotionless monster such as himself?

 _What truly happened to him all those years ago…?_

"Eira! We're here!" I looked up to see the two of them approach me. I rose from my seat on some cold rocks and nodded. The two of them came close and Parker hugged me as soon as he arrived at my side.

"Parker…?"

"I just… needed that after today." He pulled back and I saw a rare look in his eyes. Sadness, anger, regret… it was rare to see any negative emotion when it came to my best friend. To read so much in his dark eyes meant that he must have had an emotional experience at the lake, much like I had.

"You're upset…" Parker sighed as I reached up to touch his cheek lightly. He placed a hand of his over mine, holding it there.

"That Mars… she really got to me Eira… I beat her easily, but her words… it took all I had not to do something I would regret… but she got away…"

"It's okay Parker…" I pulled him in closer and I buried myself into his chest. "We'll get them…"

I felt his arms wrap around me before his head fell on my free shoulder. I could feel Cameron's stare on us as we calmly stood there, embracing each other. I turned to Cameron and he looked away before I could see him watching, and he turned his attention to Cleffa.

"Alright girl, I gotta return you to your pokeball-hey! Don't give me that look!" I pulled away from Parker to see Cameron fighting with his pokemon. "It's too cold for you to be outside, even on the inside of my jacket, you'll freeze. You'll have to wait inside you pokeball until we make it to the travel's hut halfway down the route."

"I hope my egg will be okay…" I looked down to the small blue egg in my arms. "I don't want it to freeze…"

"Bun!" Bouncy was quick to hop into my arms and wrap her body around the egg from the outer side, the edge of my jacket. "Bun bun bun!"

"Bouncy… you'll freeze!"

"She'll be off a little better then Cleffa will Eira." Cameron patted my shoulder once he had dealt with Cleffa. "Bouncy has thicker wool like fur on her body in a lot of areas to keep her warm, and you can use both your scarves to make as many layers around the two of you as you want to keep her and the egg warm."

"Alright…" I turned to my best friend. "Parker? Will you help wrap us up?"

He smiled at me. "Of course I will. Hang on there Eira, I'll get you guys all covered."

It took him only a few minutes in order to get myself and Bouncy all wrapped up for the trip to try and prevent much of any cold air to make its way through the scarf that was wrapped around my neck Arceus knows how many times. Once I was set, my two friends checked their own clothing before we dared to make our way out into the snow.

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Oh boy, here we go! So now we have an underlying issue for both Eira and Parker! Eira's worried about becoming like her father and Parker has been suffering all these years for not being able to help Eira in the way he wanted! Is this going to make things harder for them? Will they ever talk about it between them? Will Parker ever admit his feelings to Eira? Does she feel the same way?**

 **You'll have to keep reading to find out!**

 **Everyone! Please don't forget to Review and Send in Questions! We're getting closer to the end of the story! Only about twelve chapters or so left! We're getting there!**

 **Love you all and see you next week!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	22. The Cold Path

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 22: The Cold Path_

 **Eira's Point of View:**

I flinched as another wave of harsh winds hit my face, chilling strait to my bones and through what thick amounts of clothing I had on me. The blizzard was strong, impossible even to make our way through at times, so we often had to stop and make camp in close off sections of the mountains.

My friends and I had made it to the previous travelers hut yesterday before the storm had arrived and spent most of the night there. When Cameron had heard the winds howling and the snow starting to fall, we knew we'd need to leave early if we planned to make any headway before the storm got too impossible to bear through.

Cameron was our guide. He could see the small, nearly hidden markers alone the path for the people foolish enough to travel through such conditions, such as ourselves. Parker on the other had made sure Cameron stayed in sight so we wouldn't lose him, as well as kept his hand in mine, so that we didn't lose each other. I was the furthest back while I used my other free arm to hold my egg under my jacket and Bouncy, who offered to brave the weather and keep us warm. My poor buneary willingly put herself at the edge of my jacket and under two scarves to keep the cold from hitting our little egg that rested, hopefully warm.

I prayed that it would hatch soon… it was becoming more difficult to keep it safe with our journey…

Once we had left the lodge, we knew that we'd be in the middle of the blizzard for a while, but we wanted to get as close to Snowpoint as we could. With the weather out here as bad as it was, we knew that Team Galactic would be unable to catch the pokemon with this weather going on. It made us a bit more at ease, so we wished to make as much distance as we could before it became unbearable. However, even we didn't understand the extent of this storm.

It was difficult to see much in front of us, and the houses on this route were only so many miles apart. We could only pray that Cameron was guiding us in the right direction to the next safe location where we would most likely have to lay low until the storm had calmed down. Traveling like that wasn't safe, even for us.

I suddenly gasped and Parker felt me stiffen. I had felt something move under my jacket, and it wasn't Bouncy.

"Eira!" He had to shout over the winds. "What's wrong?"

"The egg!" I cried back at him. "It's moving!"

"Shit!" I turned my head to where Cameron had made his way back to us. "It's probably going to hatch soon! We gotta pick up the pace! It's not safe for it to hatch out here!"

"How far away is the lodge?" Parker questioned.

"I'm not sure, but I think we're close!" Cameron pulled back and moved back the way he had been moving before. "Let's go!"

"Come on Eira!" Parker grabbed my hand once more and he pulled me along the path Cameron was making for us. I stumbled a bit as we started to walk again, my numb limbs were starting to get to me, but I continued to push onward. I had an egg and a team to look after; I couldn't afford to fail now.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

I don't know how much longer we had been out there, but the frozen tundra of land seemed to be endless when it stood before us. I couldn't see any light. I couldn't see much of anything. With all the ice and snow blasting into my face, it was nearly impossible to see in front of us, and I felt it gathering up in my eyes. I had to rely on Parker, who kept leading me forward.

"Hey!" I heard Cameron's voice over the wind. "There it is!"

I dared to look up and through my obscured vision I could see multiple lights that were up ahead. I could hear other voices, ones that seemed to be crying out in shock before move lights came toward us. My grip on Parker got stronger; it felt like I had locked my bones so that he couldn't do anything.

"Are you kids alright? What the hell are you doing in this blizzard?" I felt some hand roughly grab us before helping us move forward. "Come on! Let's get them to the pokemon center! They're freezing!"

We were helped just like that. But I was confused then. _Pokemon center? How is there one this far south of the city? Did we actually manage to get all the way up to Snowpoint rather then find a lodge?_

A sudden bright light engulfed me as well as warmth. It almost felt heavy compared to the whipping winds that we felt just a short minute ago. I was pulled before what felt like a fire place before I felt someone pulling off the layered scarves over me. It was Nurse Joy. She took off the two scarves, now white from all the snow and ice, and draped them before the fire place.

"You must be freezing…" She sighed. "Poor things." She then looked back to notice my pokemon sticking out of my jacket. "Why in the world did you leave that pokemon out?"

"My egg…" It was like the through suddenly hit me. _Was it okay?_ I pulled away my coat and sure enough, my egg was still safely there with Bouncy wrapped around it.

"Bun bun!" Bouncy seemed fine for the most part other than a little snow that got on the tips of her ears. She bounced out of my arms and landed before the fire, sighing at its warmth.

"Oh dear…" Nurse Joy hurried over and felt over my egg to see if it was warm just for it to give a jolt of movement. "Oh my! I can't believe it survived that storm!" She quickly took it from my arms. "Take off your soaked clothes and come this way! It will hatch any minute!"

I wasted no time shredding my boots and jacket, as well as my hand before I rushed after the woman in my socks and thin clothes under my jacket. I was led to another room where Nurse Joy and her chansey was already hooking it up to some machines to see how it was doing.

"I'm surprised to see the body heat of the egg is normal, as well as the heart rate…" She turned back to me. "You did an amazing job keeping that egg safe and warm during that travel, even in that storm." Her smile faded through and became a worried look. "But why didn't you stop at one of the lodges?"

I blinked up at her. "…Huh?"

"Sweetheart… you're up in Snowpoint."

"Snow…point?" I blinked at her. "This isn't a lodge?"

"No, you passed by the three lodges long ago." Nurse Joy patted Bouncy who jumped up next to my egg. "We were worried that you and your friends were lost in the storm."

So we had passed both of the other lodges… was that because Cameron wanted to go all the way? Or had he truly missed them by accident and had us march through the blizzard hoping that we would find another lodge at some point? It would make sense… it seemed like we never saw any sort of civilization… we should have run into one a long time ago…

But at least we were here now… I stared at my egg as it began to rumble more in a warm environment. It violently shook a few more times before it became encased in a bright light and the egg around it shattered. A small figure appeared before me, much like a smaller and softer version of its mother.

When the light faded, I saw the same deep red eyes look back at me along with a blue body of fur with black ears and a black mask fur color around its eyes. It looked around the room wildly before its eyes landed on me.

"Hello…"

"Ra!" The pokemon slowly tried to get to its feet before falling over. I saw its fall on its bottom and I lightly giggled before I reached out and picked it up.

"Welcome to the family… Paladin…"

"Congratulations," Nurse Joy said to me. "You have yourself a male riolu."

"Paladin the riolu… I think it works well."

The rest of my team released themselves to look at the newest member of our team. They all passed him around and let him crawl over their bodies while I gathered some food for the little pokemon.

"Eira, you should think about giving him something to eat before you take a shower. You should raise your body temperature. Your two friends are already taking one."

I nodded to her before I took Paladin into my arms. He looked up at me in wonder before I held a bottle before him that the nurse had prepared for me. He smelled the solution and reached up for the bottle. I gently placed it before his mouth and he reached to suck on it. He greedily ate while I held him close and looked toward my team.

"We should take a picture and send it to Riley." I looked down at the baby pokemon. "Your birth mother would love to see what you look like."

The pokemon blinked up at me, unsure of what I said. He continued to drink at the bottle while I smiled down at him. I shivered lightly at the chill under my skin and I finally caved to the cold.

"Let's go to our room then, you guys…" My team followed after me as I made my way out of the room my egg hatched at and to another room where I could not only rest and get warm, but also speak with my friends about what happened during our trip.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Only a short while later did I feel better than I had in the last twelve hours. I'd had a bath, I was warmed up, we'd safely made it to Snowpoint City, and my egg had hatched into a healthy riolu.

"Ah, I can't believe I took us all the way to Snowpoint in the blizzard!" Cameron groaned as he lay out on his bed. Cleffa had been released and she was laying on top of his stomach, hugging him in a sense as she slept. "I'm so sorry you guys… I never meant for this to happen…"

"Hey, at least we made it here Cam, no harm on your part. You didn't know." Parker slapped his hand on Cameron's shoulder, surprisingly not waking Cleffa. "You got us here, and that's what matters. We're all here, we're all alright." Parker rubbed the back of his head. "And now we don't have to worry about that. We can just get our gym badges here and then back track to the lake when the weather clears up." Parker turned to me. "Right Eira?"

I nodded; Parker was right in that sort of way. While it was a long journey, we did make it and there was that much less distance between that and Jupiter who would be near or at the lake northwest of here. While we still had to worry about that woman, we wouldn't be able to do a thing until the storm was done. However, moving to another building in town wouldn't prove much of an issue.

"I'm so glad this little guy made it, Eira." Cameron got up and moved over to my bed where Paladin was resting with the others. It didn't surprise me that he was sleeping already with him just being a baby. It would be a few weeks or so before he would become strong enough to stay awake longer and train if he wanted to.

"I am too…" I smiled down at the pokemon before pulling out my poketch and taking another photo. "Lucario and Riley will be thrilled to know he's safely hatched and there's nothing wrong with him."

"That's right; they wanted to know about him when he hatched right?" Parker questioned.

I nodded back. It was one of the few requests of the mother when she handed me over the egg. While she knew she wouldn't be a part of his life much, she still wanted to know about him. Since Paladin saw me first, he would see me as his mother. But I did plan, one day, to introduce him to his birth mother and explain all about that situation.

But not now, he's just an infant…

"But we should sleep now, it's been an exhausting day and I can't imagine how we're all still up." Cameron plopped back down on his bed, curling his body around Cleffa. "I'm so tired…"

Parker yawned into his hand before lying down as well. "I'm done… night…"

I smiled as both of my male friends went to sleep. I was still relatively awake due to the mint tea I'd been sipping on for the last few hours. The light amount of caffine in my system prevented me from sleeping just yet.

I pulled out my poketch instead and started making a message to sent to Riley with some images attached. I think he would be pretty pleased with this…

 **Riley's Point of View:**

It was dark in the mountain, night had come and the five of us were huddled by the fire to keep warm. Most of the others were already asleep, including most everyone other then Cheryl and myself. Being the eldest of the five of us made it easier to do such things as stay up, or maybe it might have been the coffee that I'd had only a few hours ago.

"It's certainly been a long day, hasn't it Riley?" Cheryl smiled at me from where she was situated. Mira was sleeping on her lap while Marley was curled up next to her. Buck was snoring next to me and I snorted a laugh at him.

"Yes it has, training has been good. We'll be moving onto a new area soon. Maybe the north? I've heard a blizzard is going on at the moment, but once it's over, we could train around Snowpoint."  
"That sounds wonderful… I've heard of a grass type that also an ice type that I wouldn't mind searching out." Cheryl's eyes glanced at the fire, her green orbs glowing from the light. However, she shivered lightly. "I've heard it's terribly cold however…"

"I'm sure we'll be fine. Last I talked to Eira, she had headed to Snowpoint with the others. She should be there or at one of the lodges on the way by now."

Cheryl's eyes turned from the light with a frown. "I just hope she's not in the middle of that terrible storm…"

"So do I…"

A light buzzing sounded upon my wrist and I dared to look to my poketch. A message from Eira had been sent to me. I quickly opened it up to see the message when I was greeted with a short one and a picture.

"What is it Riley?" Cheryl questioned me.

I smiled at the image. "It's from Eira, the egg hatched."

"It hatched?!" Cheryl quickly covered her mouth, fearfully looking around to see if she had woken the others. She thankfully had not.

"Lucario," I called to my partner and she was quick to come to my side from the entrance to the cave she was watching. "Take a look at your son."

Her eyes widened before she glanced at the photo. It was a picture of Eira with a young riolu in her arms with dark red eyes, the same shade as my partner and cuter then much else I'd seen in all my life. He seemed quite happy in her arms as he sucked on a bottle of milk. Eira smiled down at him.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Lucario could only nod to me. "Eira had named him 'Paladin'."

"Oh yes, that name has a few different meanings, in the essence, she gave him the name of a heroic person, as well as one filled with honor, and a defender of others." Cheryl smiled at my pokmeon. "She must believe quite strongly in him. Congratulations Lucario."

"Car…" she could only smile down at the picture in happiness before she slid down and leaned on my side, drained from the happy event.

"You can rest at ease now Lucario, your son is in safe hands."

 **Rosalie's Point of View:**

I could feel the great power of the storm. The winds whipped through me and the ice tore through my intangible body. The storm was a beautiful thing to watch from the top of Mt. Cornet. Razi was hiding out here to initiate the final phase of the plan once Cyrus had the red chain crafted from those pokemon's gems.

It also helped that I got my fill of hikers who passed through here when I felt like it…

The storm was the very region's way of trying to stop us, of trying to stop me. I knew this was the work of the pokemon of the northern lake, Uxie. Once its two "friends" Azelf and Mespirit were both captured by my newest organization, he'd summoned as many ice type pokemon to create this powerful storm to gust over the entire northern portion of the region. That damn pokemon knew that if I couldn't get it, our plans would fail without the third gem that sat within its forehead.

However, I knew we would win eventually, those pokemon would tire in time, and Cyrus, my most amazing servant, would make sure it would all happen the way I wished it to be, and then I can be done with him. He was so easy to possess when he was younger, that car accident he was in being one of our trucks to start a Team Rocket operation in the region, which I turned into Team Galactic instead. I remember him crying out for his daughter the moment he woke up, and I took advantage of his disorientation and made him my puppet.

Compared to the Emery and Twain families in Hoenn, Cyrus was much easier to control with him being one person instead of five. They still let their personalities come out and continued on with their daily lives, where Cyrus is devoted entirely to me and what I wished, he has no emotion, and works all the time. I don't believe he's truly slept since the very accident that I used to separate him and his family.

However, he did almost escape me once… his daughter is the trigger to freeing him, and I do not like that. When the time comes, I know she would come to the summit1 of the mountain to try and save those stupid pokemon, and possibly her father too. Mew only knew that.

But I would be waiting on the top of that mountain, to stop her, and to end her…

"Sis, we're nearly done with the set up on the summit." Razi slowly approached me in the nipping winds, levitating to avoid the ice and snow below. I turned to face him then the nearly non-existent skies." Shall we head back? We just have to wait out these pokemon, they'll give up in time."

 _I'm well aware of that little brother. I have been watching the storm to see any patterns in power, and it's been insightful…_

He blinked at me in confusion. "How so?"

 _They're getting weaker… I can feel their power faded from them…_ I grinned as I turned back to my brother. _In only a day or two, the pokemon will be ours!_

 **Witch's Note:**

 **The egg hatched! Welcome Paladin to the team everyone!**

 **But oh shit! Here we go! Rose has admitted her plan and talked about how she got Cyrus! She stole him! And he called out for his daughter! But it's been so many years! Can Eira do anything now to save him? Will Rose get to them first? Who will die?!**

 **Alright! Now I gotta get going so I can work on the next chapter and you guys can enjoy cute little Paladin a bit longer! I hope to hear from all of you guys soon! Love you all and see you next week! Don't forget to Review and send in Questions!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	23. Passed for a Moment

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 23: Passed for a Moment_

 **Eira's Point of View:**

I spent most of the night taking care of Paladin. For a newborn, he was very attentive and hated to be left alone. He took particular interest in his surrogate mother and his brother and sisters, the one he liked best being Elecky due to her thick fur and radiating warmth. Paladin loved all of his family, but he did have his favorites depending on the time of day.

Paladin was also a bit difficult through the night. I had no quarrels with feeding him and being woken in the night with him being so young, however, I struggled when he wanted me to stay up afterward and play, or tried to get up one of his siblings at three or four in the early morning. Bubbly did her best, but she had the least patience with him, which, as much as it bothered me to note it, wasn't all that surprising. Magma on the other hand, was, to my surprise, quite well at handling him. All that the older male had to do was lift him up, place Paladin on his stomach and gently lay an arm over him. The warmth that came from the fire type's body was all it took to put Paladin under when even I had had enough.

I was so thankfully because I needed the sleep, I also hoped that the next night would be a bit easier… I had never realized that raising a new born was so hard…

I had a much higher respect for Cameron after that night…

I was actually standing in an enclosed greenhouse that encased many small berry trees and herbs for the pokemon center to use. It was quite warm in this little glass room, which pleasured my pokemon greatly after the long journey we'd taken to get to Snowpoint (the only exception being Bubbly who took off into the harbor to do some diving and training of the sort without me, knowing I was in good hands with the others.)

Paladin had just finished his first bottle of the morning before he began to look around. The weather of winter on the outside of the glass fascinated him with its howling and the snow that pelted its walls. Bouncy stayed close to him to keep him from getting too close or finding a way outside that would freeze him to death on the day after his birth. Thankfully, he couldn't move much yet. Walking was still a bit of a hard stepping stone for him, so he sat on the ground while the others played around him.

"There you are Eira." I dared to look up and once again there was Parker. He seemed to either have an incredible knack for finding me or he must have had a psychic type find me for him. The building we were in was incredibly large, even by most pokemon center standards due to greenhouse rooms needed for growing fresh crops for the few guests and staff here.

I smiled up at my best friend. "Good morning…"

He decided to take a seat on the bench beside me and leaned down onto his legs, hunched over, but still watching me intently. I sat down next to him. "How's the little guy doing? He seems to have a lot of energy."

"He's been up for an hour or so now." I turned my head to look at the baby pokemon I now cared for. "He did, however, exhaust me in the night…"

"I bet he did." I heard Parker chuckle and I pouted at him. "Relax Eira, he's an infant, none of us expect him to know what to do or what's going on for a while." Parker sat back up and the back of his head up with both of his hands. "Cameron was telling me it takes them a good few weeks to a month in order to start to understand what's going on around them, and that came after discovering who was family and who was not."

"I hope so… Magma was able to get him to sleep finally…"

"That big menace did that?" Parker took a look out to my fire type who seemed to be playing with the resident newborn with Magma using his arm like a gentle swing for Paladin to play on. "Who would have thought under all that molten shell there was a sweet little heart?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Magma would never hurt a child…"

Parker chuckled. "I know, just teasing…"

The air paused for a moment and it was then that I noticed something taking form in his eyes. Parker normally was very upbeat and kept a consistent conversation going even if it took all his effort and more, or he would move about and also play. Compared to those times, however, it seemed that Parker was doing neither such thing. He seemed… not there… at all…

 _Did this have something to do with what happened at the lakes?_

At the single thought of that, the dreading and haunting fears came back in full force about how I could possibly become like my father. The thought not only scared me, but it made me fear for the wonderful pokemon in my life. Would I be as cold and indifferent to them as my father was to others?

The thought made my body shake from the very encounters I had with the man since he left our family, and it not only horrified me… but disgusted me. How could anyone act in such a manner to others? True, no one can get along with every single person that they have met in their lives, but to entirely disregard them all together?

 _How could he have been once my father? What happened during or after the accident to make him into such a person?_

"Eira?" I snapped out of my daze to look over at Parker. He had also returned to the surface after visiting his memories. I felt my hand was being squeezed and I looked down to see Parker's hand there, holding my own.

"I'm okay…"

"To be honest Eira… I don't think either of us are…" The boy looked away from me and stared straight before him at a tree, however, I could tell he wasn't truly looking at it from the hazed over look in his eyes that told me he was deep in thought.

"Parker…?"

"Eira… what happened at the lake?"

I paused, watching him while he looked at me with the same dark eyes that seemed to appear when it came to these subjects.

"I could ask you the same…"

Parker scoffed. "Okay, okay… Yeah, something happened at the lake and I snapped. Mars pushed my buttons-"

"Liar." Parker looked back in shock, his eyes showing more color now under my gaze. "You're not telling me the whole truth."

He sighed and lowered his head. "No… you're right, I'm not." He snickered before patting my shoulder. "But you didn't let me finish either… _but_ I probably would have tried to lie too."

"Parker…" I reached forward and touched his hand with both of mine. Parker looked at it almost like a foreign object before I saw him turn his hand around so that it was holding mine.

"Don't hate me Eira, that's the last thing I could handle…"

His words stunned me. How is it that he could think that I hated him? What in the name of Arceus brought him to such a conclusion?

"Hate you…?" I blinked at him as I felt his hand clench in mine. The grip was tightening; he was bothered by something terrible.

"Yeah… I feel like shit…" He ran his free hand through his unruly hair. "I really hate what's under the surface Eira… what's truly down inside my soul…"

He wasn't the only one. I still had my concerns about becoming like my father, such as what Saturn had mentioned. It had disturbed me immensely. It continued to do so even as our journey continued, because every time I would see certain pokemon, see Team Galactic members, or see their commanders, it reminded me of my father… Everything connected back to him… and it scared me that I could be like him.

"I understand…" I felt my eyes water as I turned my head to my best friend. "Parker… will I… be like _him_ one day…?"

"No way in hell," he replied quickly. "I won't let that happen to you Eira." He looked back at me and turned his body to face me. "So that's what happened, right?"

I nodded. "Saturn tried to mock me, and when that didn't work, he compared me to my father…"

"Damn it…" He shook his head. "Of course they'd pull a low move like that…"

"…It's okay…"

"No its not." I raised my head to look at him. There was a dark and haunting look to his eyes, something that bothered me. Parker was never mad, unless I was hurt. He never lost his temper… he was always so happy…

Now that I'm talking to him so closely about feelings and what not… was that all a guise?

"I've been hiding this from you Eira… this darker side of me…" He glanced over and I saw the defeat in his eyes along with anger, they radiated from the flashes of dull and bright colors in his eyes and the angle of his eyebrows. These were faces I'd never seen on him, that I'd never wanted to see on him. And yet… here they were…

"…Why?"

"So you weren't afraid of what's inside of me…" Parker sighed and seemed to be trying to calm himself down. "But you're not the true cause of my anger… never think that you are."

"…Huh?"

I was really dumbfounded…

He groaned and rubbed the back of his head, a much more Parker like characteristic. "You see, when we grew up, I always liked you for the smile you had on your face. You were so quiet, sweet and caring. Your parents were too… but when shit hit the fan… everything changed… Joey got upset at every little thing after Cyrus left; you couldn't even look at anything in the house because it reminded you of him and how he left. You were so upset that most days you wouldn't leave the underside of your bed. It was like a shield for you to protect you from the few memories you had."

He then paused, the dark look returned to his eyes. I watched him clench his fist that didn't hold my hand. I reached forward with both my hands and held the first one, which he already had a grip on me.

"Parker…"

"I was so mad at myself… I couldn't do anything to help you!" He slammed his fist down on the seat beside him and I flinched, his hand gripped harder between my own as I lightly shook from how he had been coming off. "Sure, I tried to make you happy again, but you were so lost that I couldn't find the way to help you! I spent years suffering that my best friend was right beside me and I couldn't do a damn thing to help her!" He lowered his head. "It hurt so damn much… I couldn't even help my best friend… how could I help others? How could I ever have confidence in myself?"

I was silent as I watched him. Had I truly hurt him this much as we grew up? It was painful to watch and see him crumble before me, as if it was my fault in the first place. Just how many people did I make suffer when I was a little girl? What did I do to deserve this curse of haunting others… my mother… Parker… they were the two most important people to me growing up… how could I do such a thing to them?

"Eira… don't blame yourself. It's not your fault." I dared to look up at my best friend while he seemed to have control of himself now and he was rubbing my hands in a soothing manner. "You didn't know… I purposefully kept it that way in order to keep you from suffering more… If I couldn't help you, I was damn well going to at least make sure you didn't get worse because of me…"

"…Why go to all that trouble for me?"

He blinked at me, as if trying to find the words to explain himself to me. He sighed. "Eira… Listen… why do you think I'm still here?"

"Why?" I blinked, now confused. "You're here… because you're my friend?"

"Best friend Eira, I think I earned that title." I snorted a small laugh before he seemed to get nervous. "I've always cared about you…"

"I do too Parker…" I smiled; finally what seemed to be the real Parker Demeet was before me.

"Eira… it's not just that I care about you, but I'd do anything for you." Parker stared me right in the eyes. "Eira… I love you."

My eyes widened as the reality hit me full force. Parker… he loved… me? More than a friend? But why? What was so appealing about a scared, shy, young girl like myself? Sure, I'd become a bit braver with the help of my pokemon in the last few months, but I was still terrified of many things and or many people around us. What's so interesting about that?

"Let me explain before you get all confused and what not." I looked up at Parker while he leaned back in his stone seat while leaning against a tree. "This isn't something I'm saying out of the blue for the hell of it, and you know it. It's been many year since I discovered this Eira. When we were… maybe eight… you finally smiled for the first time since the accident and it was because of me… I wanted to do it more, making you smile and feel better after all that had happened. And from there that childhood affection turned into attraction. I was just so compelled by you all the time to make you happy… and that's when I realized that I loved you, even if you didn't notice…" He paused and looked over at me nervously. "That's why I got so mad at Mars… she really pushed me wrong when she started to talk about you as a helpless, weak and shy girl."

"But… I am all those things…" I looked down at my lap.

"No you're not!" Parker's voice caused me to look back up and he was standing before me with his fists curled up in anger. "You're strong, smart, and quiet. Sure, you might be cautious after everything that's happened, but you have every right to be that way after what's happened. You don't like to hurt others, that's not being helpless and staying on the sidelines, that's having morals. You have a strong team that believes in you and you should too or else that will be your downfall Eira. So do me a favor and believe in yourself for them."

His earlier confession had escaped my mind entirely. I looked at him before turning to look at the others. While they continued to play with Paladin, who hadn't noticed a thing that was going on between Parker and myself, the others were watching me every second they had with nervous eyes.

It felt much like that time where I nearly gave up on my journey because I hurt others in Veilstone City. I was so torn between what I should do… it was also one of the more in depth conversations I'd ever had with Parker, as well as the most emotional. Parker and I had never shared such conversations before, but when we did, they were meaningful and necessary.

Seeing the pattern from the conversation, it felt like before, a largely visible choice was placed before me. Do I take the easy way out and stop where I am and run, or do I take the harder path and continue to push myself to prove to others that I'm not like that man who was once my father?

I once faced this decision before. The last time I feared that I would hurt someone months ago it made me think back enough to where I was willing to deprive my pokemon of what they wished, and what I needed. I couldn't afford to be such a selfish being anymore. I had five other lives that depended on me. I knew I believed in them… but believing in myself… that was the hard part.

But I had to try… for all of them… my pokemon… my friends… Parker… they all deserved at least that much.

"I… can't promise that I can do it right away…" I looked back up to Parker, my eyes coming into focus on his face. "But I'll try…"

"Hey, that's more then what I was expecting." Parker patted my shoulder. "Eira… you've come so far… and we can't go back." His eyes shined brighter at me. "We gotta keep moving forward, or else we'll always be stuck."

"Mh…" I nodded to him before I leaned over and kissed his cheek. His face instantly reddened at the motion. "Parker… I'm still unsure of how quite I feel… may I have some time to get my feelings and thoughts in order?"

"We've got time Eira." He nervously smiled at me. "Take what you need, but I'll always be there for you."

I nodded to him and a sigh finally escaped me from letting all those negative emotions go. Having serious moments like that with Parker always brought me to ease afterwards.

"There you two are!" Cameron rushed in and groaned at us. "We gotta get food and get moving, the storm is starting to lighten up!"

That quickly brought us to our feet. We didn't want to wait long at all. We had no idea how long the storm would last, but we knew Parker and I would have to make it through to save that pokemon…

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

A few minutes later I had gathered up my team and we'd rushed over to where the gym was in this small city far from much other civilization. The bristling winds left much of the city hardly able to be seen. Thankfully, the gym was close to the pokemon center, so we only had to endure the harsh climate for a minute or so. I was very thankful, especially with a baby pokemon on my team now.

Speaking of the infant pokemon I had, before we left the pokemon center, I finally remembered to record his information into my pokedex. _Riolu, the emanations pokemon. It has the peculiar power of being able to see motions such as joy and rage in the form of waves. They communicate with one another using their auras. They are able to run all through the night. There are no known riolu nests in this region._

We arrived shortly at the gym a while later. I wasn't surprised to see the entire area was coated in ice, ground and walls together. I carefully stepped over the ice to where a stone block was placed for me to stand on, most likely so that I could keep my balance. I held Paladin in my arms to keep him warm while Bouncy sat on my shoulder with her favorite scarf around her neck. The rest of my pokemon had returned to their pokeballs to avoid the cold walk outside until we arrived.  
"Hello there!" I was surprised when a woman appeared on the field before us. I hadn't gotten any information about her beforehand other then the fact that she had ice type pokemon for her team. I was lucky to know that much or find much out in the middle of the snow storm. It didn't help that I had been staying with Paladin this whole time and didn't find it needed to ask about this gym leader. Foolish on my part… "I'm Candice Tundra! Welcome to the Snowpoint gym!" She grinned as she saw me. "You guys must be Eira Helaine and Parker Demeet! I'm excited to battle you two! Bryon sent me the video feed and I can imagine that this is going to be a tough set of battles for me!"

The woman was fiery and peppy, not was I was expecting from a gym leader. She was dressed lightly too, but she probably was used to more extreme cold temperatures then I was. Dressed in a tan short skirt with knee high socks with blue and white stripes on them and tan boots upon her feet. Her shirt was a white button up with a blue sweater tied around her waist. A bright blue blow was tied at the base of her collar while her hair was pulled back into two braided pigtails. Her eyes were a combination of a bright topaz and a soft tan which gave them a fire behind them against her pain skin.

"May I go first?" I stepped forward before my two male companions. "In case the storm lets up?"

She smiled at me. "I'm well aware of what's going on at the lakes; I've been notified by your professor and the league. I'll still battle you like any gym leader would, but I'll be using more powerful moves to overpower you. With the way the storm is going, I imagine that it should end shortly after both battles, it's really starting to let up."

"Then shall we? I don't plan on going easy on you." I pulled out Magma's pokeball and he popped out before I could even toss the device. My fire type instantly began to heat the area and the ice melted beneath his feet to reveal a form of rock hard dirt below him nearly half a foot down.

"I don't plan to either Eira! Let's go Sneaeal!" From her pokeball came the small ice and dark type pokemon that I knew was quick on its feet. Its speed, as well as its evolved form of weavile, were quite formidable to face against. I'd faced a few of them before on the long routes, normally in the mountains.

"I'm starting Eira!" Candice cried out. "Go Sneasel! Use double team! Make it hard to catch you!"

"Sne!" The pokemon suddenly turned into seven before bouncing and racing all over the place. Magma glared at the pokemon as it rushed around before turning his head back at me, waiting for an order.

The pokemon's speed would have been hard to work with. Not only could Magma not grab it, but the pokemon was moving so quickly that I knew that he could be tagged hundreds of times over before making a hit on that pokemon.

But I knew of a way around it.

"Overheat!"

Magma's body glowed, gathering the heat from the center of his core before unleashing it upon the field. The ice type pokemon suddenly vanished as the heat wave took over the area and its double had disappeared as well. I could see Candice flinching from the power of the heat rushing toward her. The attack faded and became nothing more than a heat wave that warmed the building before we heard a pokemon cry out.

We looked upward as the ice was melting and the pokemon had nothing to grab onto. I watched the pokemon fall from the ceiling, slipping on the melting ice at its feet before I saw it look up fearfully at Magma. He couldn't stop himself from grinning madly at the pokemon in sheer malice and excitement.

"Finish it Magma, flamethrower!"

I didn't want to hurt the pokemon too badly. It was already shocked and hurt enough with all the melting or its normally frigid and solid field. I would end its battle with just enough power to take it out.

The pokemon screeched as the fire hit its body, not fast enough to move when the watery ice was forcing it to slip every second. After a few moments, Magma let up on his attack just in time for the pokemon to be seen in a puddle of water.

Candice sighed before she returned her pokemon. "I can see this is going to be an issue. Because of the case of this battle, and with how quickly the water is piling up. I'm not going to use one of my pokemon. It would drown before I could use him. I hope that is okay."

I nodded to her. As much as earning my badge the right way mattered to me, I felt no need to seriously hurt or kill another living creature. If it didn't do well in this kind of environment because of how much I changed it, then so be it. I had no qualms with it. If I had to guess what type of pokemon it might have been, I would have guessed a piloswine. It couldn't move fast, but it was an ice and ground type. It could withstand a decent beating upon it.

"Alright then, let's go Abomasnow!" I was surprised when she suddenly pulled out a massive pokemon that was nearly double the size of Magma in height and mass. It seemed to be like the stories of monsters that would live on mountains and scare people away or kill them, should they get to close to a nest. It was large and white, thickly covered in fur and fat. It had two large arms and thick legs, however, the edges of those arms and legs were tipped dark forest green as well as a small tail behind it that barely reached the floor. Its eyes hung on Magma with their pinkish red hue. It cried out and I had to cover my ears. They were still a bit sensitive to loud noises since my battle with Bryon…

I pulled out my pokedex to learn about this pokemon, because if I wasn't careful, even if it was an ice type, it may pound Magma into the ground if it would be a rock or ground type. _Abomasnow, the frosted tree pokemon and the evolved form of snowver. It blankets wide areas in snow by whipping up blizzards. It is also known as "The Ice Monster." They appear when the snow flowers bloom. When the petals fall, they retreat to places unknown again. Their nests are rare and have only been located on the higher peak of Mt. Coronet._

 _Its and ice and grass type?_ I was surprised when I looked up to see Candice still smiling. Even if it was at an extreme disadvantage here, it looked like a powerhouse. This battle between us would go out powerfully.

"Alright Abomasnow! Let's show these guys some real ice power!" Candice pointed at Magma. "Use sheer cold!"

I blinked in shock when I heard her move. It was one of the most powerful ice type attacks, if it could hit. I narrowed my eyes before looking at my pokemon and feeling the fire burn in my soul.

"Magma, don't hold back." My fire pokemon seethed the heat that was stored up inside of him. Even when we battled most people and even gym leaders sometimes, we needed to hold back as to avoid serious injury. We never wanted to really hurt others, but we had to battle to make it further up the ladder. But this battle, this pokemon could take the beating if it knew a move like that. "Flare blitz!"

Magma seemed to explode then like a rupturing volcano as fire and lava coated the outside of his body and he dug his feet into the ground before plowing right at the ice type.

"Now Abomasnow! Fire!" Candice had her pokemon release the attack and suddenly the room's temperature fluxgate between scorching and subzero. I pulled Paladin and Bouncy further into my coat as the two attacks met and lashed out. Who would be more power? Ice or fire?

I found my answer soon enough. I felt the room sweating as the temperature just kept rising all around us and the sheer cold attack that the abomasnow pushed at us was broken. As I watched the attack shatter, Magma was able to make his way in close and punched the pokemon right in its face before moving to its abdomen. The solid pushes and the lava coating put the opposing pokemon at Magma's mercy as he beat him into the ground.

"Abomasnow!" Candice cried out, however, it was too late to help her pokemon. Magma took once final swing before the pokemon feel back onto the floor, burns all over its body and sitting in a large pool of water. "Arceus…I can't believe it…"

I smiled and Magma turned to look at me. The bright smile on my face over his wonderful victories. He chuckled darkly before glancing at Candice, waiting for the final pokemon to appear.

"I can't believe how strong you are!" Candice grinned as she returned her pokemon. "I have one left for you to face and then you get my badge and head out to the lake. I know you're going to win Eira, but I'm still going to put up one hell of a fight!" She threw out her last pokeball. "Let's go Froslass!"

Her last pokemon was one I wasn't expecting. It was the same pokemon that I'd seen over a few months ago that belong to Casey Birch. Froslass I knew was an ice and ghost type pokemon, which meant physical moves such as fighting or normal type attacks wouldn't work. My fire attacks would work best, but I knew as well that she could hide behind walls, under stone, and within ice to protect herself from the attack.

Magma just had to be hotter then she could handle.

"Be careful Magma… this one will be tricky…" My fire type nodded as he prepared for the next fight.

"Oh I won't play too many tricks here Eira, but I will at least try to slip you up!" Candice smiled. "Let's fix this field Froslass! Powder snow!"

The chime like voice of the pokemon echoed into the air before what felt like an icy wind swirled gently around us and snow quickly coated the field. I felt the temperature drop instantly and Magma noticed it too. The heat from his body came off faster in thick waves to keep himself warm compared to the bitter cold.

"Now let's see if we can bring this pokemon down! Ominous wind!" Candice's cry quickly made it out to where her pokemon floated and the icy ghost pokemon let loose a barrage of spirits that came flying out of her mouth to take on my fire type.

"End that attack Magma, fire blast!" My fire type was just as quick with his counter attack as he raised both of his arms to direction a large, thick beam of fire toward the ghost pokemon. Her earlier attack of powdery snow and freezing the field no longer was holding up. His fire blasted right through the dark souls that tried to make their way toward us. They screamed out as the fire passed them and raced toward the caster.

"Hide!" Candice's single order was heard and instantly the ghost pokemon vanished from the thin air. Its attack stopped and the area bare. She floated around with her body invisible, unable to see her.

"Fish her out Magma, overheat!" My pokemon grinned before he cried out and heat raced from his body, taking on a red hue, before expanding over the entire field. A screech cried out on the field. All of us looked to the side to see Froslass suddenly appearing partially in the air as she had hidden in a corner of the field.

"No Froslass!" Candice looked on her final pokemon in worry. "We're not losing! We're using our final move!" Candice cringed before her pokemon nodded to her. "Fraslass, use destiny bond!"

I was shocked then with spikes and chains emerge from the female pokemon's body and attach themselves to Magma. He struggles under their weight and flares the flames over his body, but they do little against the female pokemon. She endured the pain as the purple color raced from her body to Magma's, trying to truly attach herself to him as she faded away.

"Break the chains Magma! Fire punch!" My fire type lashed out and slammed his fists upon the chains into the ground and quickly a couple of them were cut, however, only a few were separated. Froslass suffered from the damage, but still there was one around his arm and his neck.

With most of the chains gone, the energy moved faster toward Magma and he lashed out further to get free.

"Magam! Flare blitz!" My pokemon coated himself in fire again, this time more white in color from how hot it was, and slammed his arm down on the chains that snapped them just before the energy reached him. The froslass cried out as they broke before she fell and fainted.

"Froslass!" Candice rushed out to where her pokemon was on the melted field to reveal the ground below. Candice's base of her field was below us by five feet.

I quickly moved myself and hurried to Magma. He was panting heavily and down on a single knee, showing the wear he had from the battle and how much energy his attacks took out on him. I had to be more careful with that flare blitz attack later on. It took too much of his energy, but only now did I see how it hurt him.

"Magma… you okay?"

My pokemon grinned at me, even with all the wounds all over him and blood starting to escape his injuries. I smiled back at him and touched his face. It was still hot to the touch, but it wasn't enough to hurt me. I took comfort in the fact that Magma seemed quite pleased.

"Damn… you really got me Eira." I turned next to look at Candice who approached me after she had returned her pokemon. "It seems that I need to fix my field."

I smiled at her and nodded, happy to see everything was okay.

"Well, I better give you your badge now." She pulled one out of her pocket and placed it into my palm. "This is the icicle badge, and now you only have one more to go. I'll let Volkner know that you're on your way when you get a chance."

I noticed that the map was in the shape of an iceberg, the top part of it looked to be whiter in color while the lower half was bluer. I quickly put it in my case with the other six.

"But now you have somewhere to be, don't you?" I looked up and nodded at the woman as she pointed behind me. "I'd go now to stop them, the storm is nearly gone."

I saw out the window of her gym that the wind was light now. My friends cursed and I turned to look at Parker.

"Go Eira, take Cam with you, just so you're not alone." Parker gave me a small push. "I'll be right behind you."

I nodded before I hurried out the door with Cameron quickly after me. I returned both Bouncy and Paladin before calling out Elecky to have her carry me. Cameron called out his monferno who had apparently evolved when I wasn't looking. Cameron had called him "Infernape."

 _Infernape, the flame pokemon and the evolved form of monferno. It tosses its enemies around with agility. It uses all its limbs to fight in its own unique style. It will take on any opponent. There are no known infernape nests in the region._

Cameron and I took no time in order to rush from the every clearing town of snow point and to rush to the lake just next door to stop Team Galactic from getting their wish.

 **Violet's Point of View:**

I watched from the thick trees as Eira raced out of town with her friend Cameron closely behind her. I was surprised to see that Parker was not also with them, though I assumed he still had to get his gym badge from Candice back in the city.

"Vi, explain something to me." It was the original group of us that hovered in the snowy land. Vince and Alex hung behind me as they watched the two younger kids run off as well. "Why in hell aren't we working on this operation?"

"As much as I want us to, we need to be careful and keep the element of surprise if Rose does turn out to be in this area." I never let my eyes leave the two children as they hurried to the lake. "And I have a feeling that things are going to be getting closer to the climax soon."

"Climax?" Alex questioned.

"Something terrible that will involve powerful beings from this region will take place soon. Much like we had to learn, so does Eira. Parker once told me she had to keep going so she wouldn't stop all the progress she made and I believe him. She needs to take her own stand." I groaned as I looked to the lake just up ahead. "I have a bad feeling about this, and I know Eira's going to be in the heart of it."

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Oh boy, it's almost time for the major stuff to start going down! Team Galactic is coming out with their serious plan! But what does that mean for Eira? Will she keep fighting? Will she stop? Would she even notice if the news caught her when she goes after her father and his organization? What about Rose and Razi? When will they attack?**

 **All good questions to ask and hopefully you send them to me or send me lots of comments; things are going to get serious very quickly! I'm more the excited to see what you guys think once we get through the next chapter!**

 **So I love you all see you next week! Don't forget to send in Questions and Reviews!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	24. War Against Team Galactic

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 24: War Against Team Galactic_

 **Rosalie's Point of View:**

From the tops of the mountain I could see could the blizzard had finally given way and the area had cleared. It had been nearly a week of solid waiting for these pokemon to tire out and finally they had. Jupiter used that to her advantage as the storm began to break and began the operation getting that last pokemon. I knew she would struggle with what remained of the snow storm, but the pokemon had been tired, and there was nowhere for it to run.

"Hey Sis," My smile only widened as Razi came to join me. "It's gonna be a good day, ain't it?"

 _Of course it will be…_ I grinned at thought of our plans finally going right. Violet was now where to be seen and neither was her league of changelings either. And the young child that made a threat… she would be cut off at the lake. There would be no way for her to sneak by me without coming through the mountain…

And unlike last time, I will be the one to make sure she dies before she arrives.

"We won't fail this time Sis, I promise that." I felt Razi place a gentle hand on my shoulder, preventing any pain upon me. "Taking a young kid like that… she's have so much energy that you could turn for yourself to heal. I bet it would heal you up for good."

 _I bet it would as well…_ I smiled before looking off in the direction of the falling snow. _We shall wait here, the Helaine girl will appear soon enough. Either Jupiter will defeat her, or I will_ _ **crush**_ _her…_ I snorted a laugh, or what I could make of one with my vocal cords too heavily damaged. _And I'm honestly hoping for the latter to happen…_

"Don't worry Sis, we'll get her!" Razi punched a fist into the air. "We got them this time, and this kid won't escape me like Jezebel did."

 _No… they won't, we were foolish enough to split up our strength when these children we should treat as we would any of Violet's league. Aim to kill, and don't hold back._

It wouldn't be long now… she would rush through the area soon enough…

I gasped as I felt the power flow into the area. _Violet… damn her! She's here!_

"What?!" Razi cursed before gently pulling on one of my mechanical arms. "Rose, Sis, we have to go back to the top of the mountain, it will be too chaotic for her to sense us there." Razi pulled a bit harder, forcing me to look at my little brother's worried face. "If she catches us, our plans are useless! Come on Rosalie!"

I was surprised when he used my full name. He hadn't called me that… ever… My husband had been the last one to demand me to move in such a way, to protect our operation… and to keep Violet from ruining everything like she had for the past six years…

And he was right… even in my crazed sense of a mind, I knew that. If we wanted to succeed, we had to let go of the girl for now and focus on the operation.

 _Let's get to the peak._ My brother released me and we moved out form the open area near the entrance of the mountains. I cursed at our shitty luck, but it was just like Violet to figure us out so quickly. She's watching that girl, because she knows just how much her power would be to help or hinder both of us…

 **Eira's Point of View:**

Cameron and I rushed to the lake that was next door to where the town itself was. It was set up on a high plateau that Cameron and I would have to climb. I returned Elecky and we both grabbed onto Infernape who began climbing up the rocks and quickly as he could.

Once we reached the top, it was simple to rush inside the thick forest barrier around the lake, only to come face to face with Jupiter with a smug look on her. I glared at her as she stood before us as if waiting for us to make a move.

"What took you so long little Eira? I thought you were going to stand me up?" She sighed, a hand of her own gently whipped out and touched her head as if she would faint. "But I'm so glad you could join me before I head back to HQ."

"Where's the pokemon of the lake?" My eyes never wavered as my eyes watched her. Cameron, out of the corner of my eyes, was looking for any kind of encasement.

"I'm afraid you too late again Eira." My eyes widened and I sucked in a breath. "It's already been transported with the other two, it won't be long now before the red chain is crafted and we'll have all we need for the final leg of our operation to create and entire new world!" She laughed, holding a hand to her chest to keep her upright. "But you're welcome to try and stop us. Master Cyrus and Lady Rosalie will certainly destroy you before you could even get the chance! Our HQ is on the far northeast of Veilstone City." She winked at me. "Rot in hell!"

A smokescreen soon covered the area and I hissed out at before a coughing fit came over me. I could hear Cameron coughing as well next to me before I heard a helicopter. The smoke vanished just as I saw Jupiter leave inside the very machine until it was out of sight.

"Damn it!" Cameron cursed next to me. "Eira, how do we catch up with them?"

"We'll have to race them!" I quickly pulled out a pokeball to call out a pokemon but before I could, something slammed into me and I was suddenly surrounded by air.

"I gotcha Eira!" I was surprised when I saw it was Violet who had her hold on me. I was shocked that the champion was not only here, but also that she was carrying me at such a fast pace over the icy routes.

"Violet?"

"Hey hon!" Violet flapped the black wings that protruded out of her back. "Don't worry, we heard everything, we'll get you there. Alex has got Parker and their one their way to meet up with us."

"Why didn't you stop things earlier?" My eyes widened as the realization came to me that she could have saved that pokemon. "Why didn't you help the pokemon of the lake?"

"To be honest Eira, it killed me not to, but I had a reason." I looked at the older woman strait in the eye as we crossed the icy routes in record time. "This is your journey; this is your battle to fight. I know you can save those pokemon, and you need to. You need to go through stopping your father and his organization and save all those you can because, like I said, this is your journey. I wouldn't be here if I didn't take mine, and neither would the others." She looked back at her brother who had Vince in his arms and soon Alex came out of the clouds with Parker holding onto him as well. "I can't fight your battle for you Eira, and would it feel right if I did that for you?"

"No…" My grip on the woman tightened just as the mountain range came into view. It was lightly snowing over it. Violet narrowed her eyes before she looked back to her boyfriend.

"Alex! Take Eira!" Her boyfriend looked at her strangely before flying up closer and flying under her so I could be dropped into Parker's arms. Parker was hanging on Alex's back and quickly helped me so we were both holding onto Alex in some form. "I need to stay here!"

"Why?" Vince cried out over the roaring winds.

"That area up there! There's too much chaotic energy! Rose might be there! I need to make sure she doesn't move or hurt anyone! Just get the kids to their HQ and let them destroy it!" She grinned back at me. "I'm counting on you Eira!"

And with that, she was gone. She released her wings and form and dropped from the sky. I cried out when I saw her vanished during the fall, but Alex assured me that she would be okay.

"Let's go then Vince!" Alex called back to his friend. "These kids got a mission from Violet!"

Vince nodded and it was once again that we were all off to Veilstone City where we knew a battle was waiting…

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

A short while later, Alex and Vince dropped the three of us off at the front entrance to the building that was on the northeast most spot in the city. It was an office building of some sort that seemed to have three levels; however, on closer inspection of the two men waiting at the front door, the heavily covered clothes on them must have been covering a uniform.

"We'll leave this to you kids, okay?" Alex and Vince landed before us, returning to their human forms, before stepping back. The former was the one speaking to us. "If you need anything, we'll be here, but we'll also prevent most of them from leaving and capture them for you."

"But you still have the bulk of the work." Vince chuckled. "I don't envy you. My sister can be a pain in the ass when it comes to doing things like this, but she has the best intentions in mind."

"I'll have to thank her then…" I glanced at the males one more time before my entire team released themselves. Bouncy remained on my shoulder to give Paladin room to be held to my chest. My three other powerhouse pokemon growled as soon as they saw the entrance.

"Shall we then Eira?" Parker's team was released then too and I saw him smile at me, ready to take down these horrible people.

Cameron's active team was released then as well. He held Cleffa tightly to him as he looked at the building in worry. "Let's stick together. Mothim and Bouncy will stay close to us while the others trash the place, right?"

"Elecky will stay close too." My electric type nodded and she came back to me and allowed me to sit on her back. "We'll run into commanders, or they will come out at us… we should have some pokemon that can fight well with us."

"I better save Snorlax then… he'd fall through the whole building…" Parker sighed before returning his largest pokemon.

"If that's the case, then Glaceon, you stay close too."

I was surprised at the newest addition to Cameron's team. He must have made a pokemon evolve during the time we rested at the first cabin before making our way to Snowpoint. It was an evolution of an eevee. It had powder blue coloring for its sleek fur and long tail and fur around its face before its two perked up ears. Park of its tail and the fur that surrounded its face and dangled nearly to the ground was a much richer, darker shade of blue. Its eyes were a dark black color, much like a stone. I pulled out my pokedex to learn more about it.

 _Glaceon, the fresh snow pokemon and the evolved form of eevee with an icy rock. As a protective technique, it can completely freeze its fur to make its hairs stand like needles. By controlling its body heat, it can freeze the atmosphere around it to make a diamond-dust flurry. There are no known glaceon nests in this region._

"Let's go then." The guys nodded and followed after me as we approached the front doors. The members before them hesitantly stood there, watching us before masses of our pokemon rushed then and they were given no time to act before they were beaten. The front doors were crushed down before my pokemon's attacks and they rushed inside.

While I sat on Elecky's back, she slowly walked into the building. The crushed lobby area was littered with groaning bodies and symbols on each of them that resembled the evil group. The others followed after me and we moved toward the stairs that were hidden behind a wall that I knew our other pokemon had already headed up.

Once we made it to the second floor, I was surprised to see such an elaborate laboratory established here with computers and chemicals all around. The scientists were cowering under some of our pokemon's attacks and faces that scared them into running. I could hear cries from down the hallways and it worried me.

"While the others deal with the grunts, let's free any pokemon we find." My two friends nodded to me and we quickly moved down the hallway to where we found many pokemon that seemed to be trapped here. I gasped at their conditions as skin was discolored, fur was gone, dried blood sat at the bottom of the cages.

It made me so angry… so upset… because it reminded me of how I found Cleffa when they took her at the docks, but worse. I dared to look over at Cameron who I could see had a haunted look upon his face, most likely thinking back to the same time frame.

"Let's get these guys out of here." Parker was the first to move forward and pull on the bars of the cage. While he pulled on the bars, I found a key off to the side which I used to unlock the first cage. When it was open, the pokemon burst from its confined quarters and ran. "We're letting all you guys out! As soon as the cage is open, run! And don't look back!"

I watched as Parker had all their attention and I continued to unlock cages while Elecky and Cameron's glaceon helped us to release all the pokemon trapped. It took a while in order for us to get anywhere near the end of all the cages, however, when we did, there was a break when we heard more crying from the other side of this floor.

"It seems we have more to free." I turned back to look at the others. "Let's go."

It didn't take long for us to move to the next room, and make sure that all the pokemon here were freed and couldn't be used against their will again by my father and his organization.

 **Alexander's Point of View:**

It only took a few seconds of those pokemon getting inside the building that we heard a commotion. Vince chuckled beside me as the siege was taking place inside. Violet was right, much like she always is in cases like this. When it came to dealing with issues such as this, it was up to those that live in this region to take care of it. We can't always handle every issue, and it's how they all learn.

I heard panting next to me and I was surprised to see that Looker was there. He breathed heavily before he looked up at the building and turning to look at me.

"So there was a base in this city after all…" He sighed before he stood up beside me. "I suppose Violet and some of others are inside causing this havoc?"

"Actually, no." Looker looked at me in surprise. "It's Eira, Parker and Cameron who are in there right now."

"You allowed Miss Eira to go in there?!" Looker suddenly was before me and gripping the front of my shirt. I glared at him while he furiously shook me. Vince tried to calm him down, but the man would not heed his words. "How could you do such a thing Alexander?! She is a child!"

"All of us were kids when we did things like this!" I snapped back. "I'll agree that I don't make it a habit of letting children take out regional villains such as these that are on such a high scale, but it's not my order, its Violet's. She believes that these kids need to handle this problem in their region to grow, and their powerful. She believes that they'll be like us soon enough." Looker slowly let me go and backed away a few steps. "It's also a family problem. Eira's father is the leader of this organization. She needs to be the one to take him down to obtain any sort of emotional peace."

"Still… Miss Eira…" Looker glanced back at me with worried eyes. "Can she handle this?"

"Take a look at that building behind you and tell me for yourself."

Looker did just that, turning toward the building where glass was being shot out, fires breaking out and walls crumbling from the sheer power and strength of all their pokemon and their wills. It took the man a few moments before he looked at me nervously.

"You do realize that this will reach headlines and her mother will know about this."

I groaned. "Another bridge to cross when we get there… But yeah… we know, even if Eira doesn't realize it yet…"

 **Joey's Point of View:**

It was a quiet afternoon with the weather slowly warming up due to spring in full bloom around us in the south. It had been a few months since Christmas and I was slowly still adapting to the fact that I didn't have my beautiful daughter in the house with me. Of course I had Honey still with me and a couple of my other pokemon from the past, but it was just too quiet normally for the two of us. Most parents dream of when their house is empty and they can enjoy the quiet, but for me, it's too restless…

I had to admit that even when my daughter did live here it was quiet, but with her being here and Parker coming over every day for all of his young life, it made it quite lively in our house, much like what it used to be when Eira was young and Cyrus was still with me…

I still couldn't understand what had happened to make the love of my life leave me so suddenly, my only guess was that something happened in the crash that made his mind work differently then how it had before. He loved Eira… with all of his being… and even though he hated how flashy I was at times when it came to contests, he and Eira would always be right there, cheering me on… It still just stunned me so… and it had been eight years…

I sighed and moved to the living room then and Honey quickly followed after me, making herself at home in my lap once I sat on the couch. "Maybe some TV will help us with the noise, don't you think Honey?"

"Meow!" She purred loudly on my lap, demanding that I pet her while I scrolled through the channels. I quickly found a drama that I had begun recently watching that surrounded a young girl who had moved to the city with her bellossom and how they were adapting to the city life and drama. It was wonderful; she had fallen for two different guys and was trying to follow the wishes of her dead parents while living with her deranged aunt.

It was so soul filling to watch even such a strange show as this…

" _We_ _interrupt your normally scheduled broadcast for breaking news._ " My program was suddenly cut and my eyes widened as I saw a building that Cyrus used to use for business and understanding evolution with Professor Donald Rowan, his boss. " _It seems that this abandoned building here on the other side of town is actually a home base for Team Galactic! IPHP Members have already been seen on sight, however, what is startling everyone everywhere is that there are children that we've seen inside the building who seem to be freeing pokemon and fighting these terrible people!_ "

I was shocked when I could see a camera on a pokegear or some other kind of communication device that seemed to be filming the video. I could see a window burst and many people crying out in shock. The camera moved and soon it was on the spot again and I felt a ten ton weight fall in my gut when I saw it was my baby girl in the window…

" _It seems that recent Grand Festival winner Eira Helaine is inside the building as well as he two close friends Parker Demeet and Cameron Cody. The three of them, with the support of the IPHP League, have been tearing this building apart and saving pokemon that are rushing out by the hundreds. I can only imagine how the families of these children must feel, as it's a shock to all of us that these three are involved-_ "

I jumped from my seat and raced to the phone, quickly dialing someone who would know something about this. After only a ring or so someone picked up and my voice reached volumes I hadn't reached in nearly a decade.

"Get Donald Rowan on this phone or so help me- Arceus won't put that man back together when I'm done!"

I had to get my baby out of there!

 **Eira's Point of View:**

Many pokemon kept feeling the building as soon as we let them out, it didn't take long for them to escape with all the members out cold on the levels below. Parker, Cameron and I had mostly hurried through the entire level before I could see the stairs ahead, making it to the third floor, which I could see that my pokemon had already made it up.

I hurried after them, Elecky carrying me up and my friends close behind me.

When we made it to the third floor, I was surprised to see an assembly room of some sort that was filled to the brim with grunts that our pokemon were fighting. I quickly looked to the stage above, where I'm sure all of them were looking at and I saw him…

It was my father.

He looked down at me with a cool, but frustrated expression. He was not pleased with what I had done here to his organization.

"An insignificant error and become a more sophisticated problem…" Cyrus jumped down from the next level and stepped before me. I could hear the grunts cheering for him as he appeared before me. Cameron backed up slightly and I could see Parker's fists shaking.

"I'll take him." I stepped forward and off of Elecky so she could go all out at him.

"You're a fool then to step in the way of our plans…" The man looked at me with a strange combination of a blank face and a fury in his eyes. The dark bags under his eyes seemed to become much blacker in color before he threw out a pokeball. "Gyarados, take care of her."

A great beast of blue color and monstrous features stood before us and roared. The power of its voice forced us back, even with our feet and claws pressed into the floor.

"Elecky! Show it no mercy!" My electric type growled before it launched itself forward with fangs coated in electricity. It took a single bite out of the pokemon, just on one of its fins, but her electricity that she stored in her body was so powerful that the opposing pokemon roared once more and whipped around its tail to free itself from her teeth, but there was no such luck.

"Throw that pokemon off of you, even if you have to crush it." Cyrus' orders were quiet, his dead like voice couldn't reach his pokemon that was in pain and trying to fight off Elecky. While she had her teeth on the fin, I saw her charge up her body before unleashing a large thunder attack on it. The water and flying type pokemon screeched out in pain before its barbequed body fell to the ground and Elecky walked back over to me.

"It seems you're more than a difficult problem, but an enormous obstacle." Cyrus returned his pokemon before his eyes turned fiery in the hatred as they looked at me. "You will not stop us; however, we will create a new world, one that we rule." He looked behind him to the defeated grunts with my, Parker and Cameron's pokemon around him. "You wish to save those three legendary pokemon, Mespirit, Uxie and Azelf, yes? By all means do as you wish with them. It saves me the trouble of disposing them." He slowly walked toward me and when his arm him my shoulder, I could tell he was in a foul mood. "I'll be at Mt. Cornet with my entire team there, and my organization. Should you feel strong enough, dare try and journey there. But you will not succeed, even if you are my daughter."

He walked past me then. He vanished from sight and never looked back. My father truly was evil…

"Eira…" Parker looked at me worriedly before putting a hand on my shoulder. "We should go and release those pokemon before meeting up with the others. We'll go after him and stop him too."

I nodded to Parker as he led me away from the spot we battled and headed up to the next level. Once up there, we saw Saturn, the third of my father's commanders who was standing before three tanks, each which contained one of the legendary pokmeon of the lakes.

All of them looked to be about the same size, but were all in different sorts of colors. They all had what seemed to be topaz colored eyes and two twin tails with small ruby like gems in the middle of them. They also seemed to have a spot where a large red gem would be in the middle of their foreheads, but it was currently regrouping, as I'm sure they were removed for the red chain that my father created. All of them were slightly different however, with three different colors, one being pink, another dark blue and the last yellow. The pink one looked more like a female with what looked like a skin sort of hair on its head. The yellow one had the same thing, expect it was pulled smooth and tight around the head. The dark blue one almost seemed like it was wearing a hat.

All of them, however, were in pain…

"So it seemed you made it this far, damn that Jupiter for giving away the location…" Saturn cured as he looked at us. "But no matter, soon our plan will be underway and we'll use the red chain to summon and control the two beings of time and space to create a new world. One that you wouldn't understand."

"I don't want to understand. I want to stop you." I took another step closer and my pokemon growled around me. "Now let these pokemon go."

"Be my guest if you want to release them, but it's such a waste. I mean, they've already been used and their purpose now is nothing until those red stones grow back, should we ever need another red chain. But otherwise, you might as well just kill them, they don't have much for fighting power, all their good for is hiding and running away."

"Don't speak about them like that." I walked forward right at Saturn and he glared down at me as if I was just a piece of strange earth. "How do I release them?"

"I guess there's no choice…" He pointed to the stand behind himself. "The switch to release them is behind me, just hit the red button. It will release their pods."

"Thank you." He blinked back at me as I pasted him only to miss as Magma grabbed him by the collar and lifted him into the air.

"You're a fool for letting them through Saturn!" The short doctor and fourth member of the commands appeared behind the panel. "These pokemon could be used for more things than that! They're still legendaries for Arceus sake!" He snorted before backing up. "But if you've given up on this operation, fine, have them! I'll be working with Palkia and Dialga soon enough!"

He suddenly hit a switch and the room when dark, but it returned shortly after. The short man had taken a secret passage made in the floor to escape. I could've wasted my energy going after him, but there were more important things at hand to deal with.

I walked up between all the cages to find the red button that Saturn was talking about. I hit it and instantly I heard the glass shattering all around me and the machine malfunctioning. I stepped away just as the one before me exploded with a fiery path.

"We need to leave!" Parker cried out.

"We can't leave them!" I raced forward and grabbed one of the pokemon with my free arm. The pink one I held close to Paladin before Elecky raced up to me and walked under me to place me on her back. I leaned close to her and she took off while I saw the others grabbing the other two pokemon and racing out on their fastest pokemon. Parker took a side route as I heard him crash through the windows with Staraptor. Cameron came rushing after me in the arms of his infernape. Magma carried out Saturn in his arms, preventing him from being hurt as we jumped out of the building.

Once our feet hit the ground, an explosion went off behind hind us. The last thing I remembered was something hitting my head…

 **Rosalie's Point of View:**

Things were now in place. Cyrus, my wonderful puppet joined us and soon Eira would be on her way to stop things here, but there is nothing she can do… not now that the red chain is in our possession.

"Set it up Cyrus, it's time we end this." My puppet nodded before raising the red chain and drawing energy to summon and control the two legendary beasts. We only had to wait five hours…

That's how long before I had the world in my hand!

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Don't you just hate her?! Rose just can't be stopped at times, now can she? And now Joey knows about what her daughter has been doing! Oh shit, here we go!**

 **But now things are starting to get heated and soon, the first of two deaths that I've mentioned to you (I think), but I'm not telling who! Or how that death will impact everyone!**

 **Alright, I better go and work on the next chapter or you all will kill me! (If you haven't planned to already from where I left off!)**

 **Alright, I'll see you guys next week! I love you guys and don't forget to let me know what you think! We don't have many chapters left! Just about… nine left! And please Review! I haven't gotten many reviews lately so I don't know what you people think of the story right now!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	25. Team Galactic's Final Leg

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 25: Team Galactic's Final Leg_

 **Eira's Point of View (Dream):**

 _Things were different since the last time I went to the Distorted World. Much of the landscape seemed to be even more broken up then I remembered and the purple sky had more tints of red in the vortex like atmosphere. I could only guess that something was wrong, but what could be wrong is something with Shadow. She could be angry or hurt…_

 _"Miss Eira!" I turned around my head to see Celeste rush toward me with Rotom behind her. "Come on! We have to hurry!"_

 _"Hurry where?" The little girl didn't wait for me and pulled me along after her._

 _"The queen needs you! Bad people are after the queen's brothers!"_

 _"Her brothers… do you mean Dialga and Palkia?"_

 _The little girl nodded. "The queen's angry and is going to battle, she wants you to join her and have her stone to fight together. The queen has allowed me to take you to your last spot and you must cross from there without our help."_

 _"Okay then, let's go."_

 _Celeste brought me to where Shadow apparently was. She was waiting for me at the stone itself on the other side of a set of pathways before me. Celeste slowly let go of my hand before she floated over to where Shadow was, Rotom following after her obediently. I could see the rage in Shadow's eyes. They burned and were much fierier then her normally ruby red color for them. The shadows that she controlled from being a ghost nearly covered her entire body, and she was shifting in and out of her true form. It ached my heart to see how she suffered, but there was only one way to help her… I needed to free the other two pokemon from the other side from my father and Rosalie's grasp._

 _My first step onto the path that was before me quickly forced all other paths to vanish from sight, the only downfall to this, however, was that it seemed that this path had a final puzzle to it. I carefully walked it to see another platform appear before me, this one with trees. I had to move carefully to find the new path that would lead me to the spot Shadow was at._

 _I took my first step into the tree filled forest and instantly half it vanished to show me bare ground. I hesitantly took another step, this one slightly more to the right and I saw more trees fade, however, the step I took was a right one is showing me a path through the trees to the other side of the plat form. I sighed as I followed it carefully, doing my best to remember where the path was as I got closer to it and the trees faded once more._

 _I made it to the other side and I was happy to see another two paths were before me, both of them seemed to lead right to Shadow, Celeste and Rotom. As I carefully glanced at both, I could see that one path looked more worn or broken then the other, it made me think to Shadow's emotional condition which was affecting the reality._

 _I took my first step, it being on the broken path. Though my first step was wobbly, it held strong and the other path faded… no… it crumbled away… I could see the path I was on visibly healed in a way, more pieces connecting together in order to show me the true solid path. I smiled as I finally made it to the platform that I'd worked for months trying to stand on. Shadow was here, she looked a bit relived that I had finally made it. Celeste and Rotom were excited as they pulled me over to where the orb sat._

 _"Come Miss Eira! You need to get the orb!" I was brought to where a broken pedestal stood with a crystal shaped stone hovering over it. It glowed a light yellow in color as I stared at it and I could feel its power, Shadow's power._

 _"It's called the griseous orb," Celeste explained to me. "It allows you to connect with the queen. You're the first human to hold it Miss Eira. The queen has said that no one had made it as far as you, I never came close."_

 _I smiled at the girl before I pulled the orb closer to myself. It quickly slipped its way inside of my body and I happily felt the courage and power coursing through me. I smiled at the feeling, even with all the anger I could feel through it that Shadow was radiating from her anger at Team Galactic… it was warm… her feelings were warm…_

 _"Now the queen can leave this world." I blinked and looked back over at Celeste. "She isn't stuck here now that you have the orb. You can make a gateway for her to be free."_

 _I gently reached out to touch Shadow's face as she leaned into my hand. "I'm not sure how to do that…"_

 _"It's okay Miss Eira, just the fact that you have the orb is all the queen needed. If you don't know how, she can do it."_

 _"When this is over… I can't wait for you to meet the others…" I smiled up at Shadow and she called out softly to me._

 _"Now that you have the orb, your spirit won't be pulled here anymore…" Celeste looked at me sadly. "I'm gonna miss you, Miss Eira…"_

 _I smiled down softly at the girl. "It's alright Celeste, I won't leave you."_

 _"No… it's not that…"The little girl looked away from me. "I've been here for sixty years… I have to move on… Mommy and Daddy are calling me…"_

 _I could only blink at the little girl I'd gotten so attached to. It was hard to remember at times that she had been murdered and that she was truly dead. Only her spirit talked to me most days. She had to move on at some point… I couldn't fault her for that._

 _"But… before I go… I want to tell you everything Miss Eira…" I blinked at the girl who held my hand so closely and with so much warmth and love that I thought she could have been alive, however I knew it was nothing more than the illusion of this world that Shadow lived in. "My brother… he did a bad thing…"_

 _"You don't have to tell me now Celeste." I patted her head. "Wait until I come back and we'll talk before you go. Then you can be with your parents in Heaven, okay?"_

 _"Okay." She stepped back from me and stood with Shadow. "You should go now Miss Eira, your friends need you. Those bad people are going to hurt the queen's brothers soon."_

 _"I won't let them." I looked up to my friends here. "The next time I see you will most likely be during the fight. Be careful and I hope to see you soon Shadow…"_

 _She cried out softly and this time I felt the darkness surround me because of my own will to go back. I controlled it…_

 _And I would need all the power I had in order to stop Team Galactic…_

 **Awake** :

I slowly felt my eyes opening as the darkness faded from my vision. I blinked a few times as I noticed that there was a crash of lightning and winds howling around us. I felt something warm though. I dared to look and I saw myself in Parker's arms. He was holding me while we flew through the sky toward Mt. Cornet.

 _I must have been out for a shorter time then I thought…_

"Eira?! Are you okay?" I looked up back to Parker's face as he seemed to notice I was awake. I also noticed that the entire IPHP League surrounded us on flying types as we hurried to the mountain. Cameron I could see was off to the side with Vince who they traveled together on the older man's moltres.

"Parker…" I slowly sat up and used him as a brace. "We're heading to the mountain to stop them… aren't we?"

"Are you okay for that?" His eyes were wide as he looked me over.

"Shadow said its time…"

"Shadow?" He blinked. "That pokemon you saw in your dreams?"

"Shadow is the third legendary pokemon, Giratina, isn't she?" Violet flew over next to us with Alex only a short distance away from her. "She connected with you?"

"I have her orb now… I have her power for this fight…" I looked at Violet and I saw the woman gasp as she looked at the rare fire in my eyes. "She's angry… they're going to hurt her brothers…"

"We'll leave this to you then, okay?" She reached out just enough to touch my shoulder. "You'll get Team Galactic, we'll take on Rose and Razi, or if the legendary pokemon go out of control. Otherwise, this is your battle, okay?"

I nodded to her. I saw that there was an entrance to the mountain somewhat near the top where we could see grunts. I glared down at them as Parker brought us in for a destructive landing. His staraptor crashed through the grunts that were there and brought us a good distance inside the mountain. When the pokemon finally landed, Parker returned it due to the cramped space for it to be unable to fly.

"Good luck!" I heard Violet's voice from the entrance of the cavern while I noticed that Vince dropped off Cameron. The younger male rushed up to us while the others hurried off. Once we were by ourselves, we turned to look up the path that led further up the mountain.

"Let's go." Parker and Cameron were quick to follow after me as we ascended to the peak.

 **Joey's Point of View:**

It didn't take me long to gather all the information I needed from Donald. He'd told me that early into their journey my child had saved him from those terrible people. However, instead of calling the police to handle it, Eira and Parker, as well as their new friend Cameron (Donald's assistant) had been battling Team Galactic for months. Eira had seen them at the Grand Festival, the lakes, many places where I'd been nearby.

 _I should have known better, I should have kept my daughter away from that._

It didn't take me long to gather my team. Honey was used to being out of her pokeball and enjoying herself around the house. However, there was one other pokemon that I had on me that I had only used for contests. Honestly, I couldn't look at that pokemon often, because it wasn't mine, it was Cyrus'. It was his honchkrow. A pokemon we all loved once upon a time, but he knew that it was just so hard when Cyrus left, even if he was left behind too by my husband…

But I needed Joker now, to get my baby back. He understood that, so here he was, flying me to the mountain where Donald believed Eira was, facing off against Team Galactic, who apparently my husband was leading.

It killed me to think about that, the wounds of him leaving me had finally begun to heal only to be ripped open once more. Why did he have to be doing this? Why was he forcing us into his mess?

"Go Joker." I told the flying pokemon. "We need to find my baby."

"Caw!" His wings flapped harder and we glided on the wind, which carried us that much faster to the mountains where my baby girl was.

 **Eira's Point of View:**

It didn't take long for us to ascend to the higher pars of the mountain. Many Galactic grunts were put in our way to prevent us from making it to the top. However, none of them stood a chance against my own pokemon.

When we finally made it to the top, I saw just how much work my father had put into this place. Machines of all kinds were placed up here with a red chain hooked up in the middle of them, harboring the stones of the three pokemon they kidnapped in the middle of an old temple. Few grunts were here in this room while I noticed that Mars and Jupiter stood at the entrance to guard my father and his work. I took a good glance around the room and didn't see anyone other than the three of them, Rosalie Agustino, Razi Harper, or the IPHP League. They were off somewhere else.

"I should have known you would have made it up here." Mars clenched her fists as she watched us arrive with all our pokemon out of their pokeballs surrounding us.

"It seems the little girl is just like her lover said, she's not as shy as you think she is. Eh, Mars?" Jupiter giggled behind her hand as she glanced at us.

"Shut up Jupiter!" Mars snapped at her partner. "We have to prevent these kids from getting near the boss!"

"Of course, we would never let this estranged daughter near her father." Jupiter giggled as she watched us. "And now it's time for us to take you down child."

"You never were strong enough to take Eira down you ugly bitches!" Parker grinned as each woman glared at my best friend. I smiled at him and patted his arm to look at me in question. "Eira?"

"Help me?"

"Like you need my help." Parker shook his head before he grinned. "You got it no matter what Eira."

I smiled at him before turning back to Cameron. "Keep your eye out for anything strange."

He sighed. "I'm so glad you didn't have me battle with you…"

"Clef!" His baby pokemon cheered in his arms.

"Ra!" Paladin did the same in my own.

"Now who will battle us little Eira?" Jupiter chuckled at me.

Before I could say a word, Bouncy jumped off my shoulder and stood before Jupiter. "Bun, bun, bun!"

"Bouncy…" She wanted to face Jupiter again after being beaten so badly last time. Jupiter had nearly torn her to shreds before my other pokemon did the same to her.

"Oh… the little buneary wants to try and face me again?" Jupiter giggled behind her hand while her skunktank stepped up before her. "Interesting…"

"Oh quiet you." Mars snarled before her partner of a purugly stepped next to her. "That pokemon probably got stronger when your eyes were off of it. So pay attention to the battle! We need to protect Master Cyrus!"

"Of course Mars," Jupiter winked at her.

"I hate that woman…" Parker hissed and I felt him take my hand in his.

I squeezed his hand back. "Let's beat them."

"Yeah," he laced our fingers together. "Let's do this Eira! Go Snorlax!"

"Snor!" His pokemon heavily stopped forward and the pokemon and humans cringed as they saw his shadow cover them. He smiled tiredly at them before holding up its fists.

"Why don't you go first with Bouncy?" Parker noted to me. "She wants this really badly, let her have the first move, I'll cover you with Snorlax."

I nodded. "Thank you Parker…" I turned back to the field before us where Bouncy stood ready, her legs looked like they were just short of breaking free like a spring. "Bouncy, endure!"

"Bun!" My pokemon suddenly was encased in red and she prepared for the battle head.

"Oh how cute… she might be able to handle an attack from us now." Jupiter snickered.

"Shall we test that?"

"Oh just attack her already or I will!" Mars snapped at her partner. "Oh forget it! Purugly! Use slash!"

The pokemon came rushing forward then, its claws ready to hit and it swiped at my pokemon when it got close enough. Bouncy not only endured the hit, but it hardly left any damage on her. She blinked in surprise and the commanders blinked as well.

"What?!" Mars screeched.

"So it seems the little buneary has gotten stronger…" Jupiter's smile finally vanished and she prepared to attack. "Go Skuntank, use toxic."

"Skun!" The pokmeon cried out and from its rear end came a horrid smelling spray that began to liquefy the ground before us. I covered my mouth with my free hand and Parker pulled me into his shoulder to use his shirt as more of a protection from the smell.

"Boucny!" I shouted from behind my hand. "Use bounce!"

"Bun!" She leapt up into the air, flying above the whole event around us, before she flipped and used her weight to slam into the opposing pokemon. It cried out as it was hit in the back and Bouncy screeched at the same time to deafen its ears. The pokemon landed on the ground, wiped out.

"What the hell?" Mars cried out. "That weak pokemon took out Jupiter's pokemon?!"

I smiled at my pokemon, happy for her to overcome her past. I pulled away from Parker's shoulder to look at her. "I'm so happy and proud of you Bouncy!"

"Buneary!" She leapt into the air, pumping her fist upward before she was coated in white light. I blinked in surprise and the commanders stepped backward from my buneary. She grew in size, much taller than me by a foot or two. Her ears became long and heavy, as long as herself even. Her arms stretched out so that she had more length to them and her legs did as well, almost looking somewhat like a human female with a double set of long ears.

When the light shattered and glitters entered around her, Bouncy was thrilled with her new form. She still had her little pom-pom for a tail. Her eyes had turned pink with a small little black pupil. Her long ears that nearly were as long as her body was a rich softer rose pink color. More fur came out of the top of her head that almost looked like a second set of ears with the same color. Around her wrists grew more of the pink fur while her lower legs were also coated in it. The rest of her body had smooth brown fur much like in her previous form.

"Lu!" She cheered before I saw her hurry back to me and pick me up in her arms. My pokemon was so strong now that she was able to carry me and bounce all over the place. I smiled at her as she twirled me around before setting me back before Parker.

"I'm so proud of you Bouncy… look at you! You're so pretty…"

Bouncy took that moment to bounce and before I knew it, she was on the ceiling and pounced back down and slammed into the body of the purugly. It screeched as it was indented into the floor and its bones crushed before Bouncy came back to my side.

"You little shit!" Mars snapped.

I ignored the woman and pulled out my pokedex, pointing it at Bouncy. _Lopunny, the rabbit pokemon and the evolved form of buneary. It is very conscious of its looks and never fails to groom its ears. It runs with sprightly jumps. Their ears appear to be delicate. If they are touched roughly, it kicks with its graceful legs. It sheds its fur twice a year. Its winter fur is soft and fluffy. There are no known lopunny nests in this region. Please wait… updating shiny information…_

"Alright! Now we just gotta deal with him." We looked ahead to where my father almost seemed to be waiting while the red chain above him glowed. Mars and Jupiter stepped out of our way once they were defeated.

"So you made it this far, eh?" My father looked at me with a dead look like he had this entire journey. It killed me to see him like this; however, I knew there was nothing I could do about his behavior. He's been this way since the accident we had when I was a child.

"You're not going to win Father." My cool eyes glanced at his. They matched in their determination, even if they seemed like no life came from his.

"We shall see about that." He huffed before stepped backward. "Can you stop me before the red chain summons and controls the pokemon of time and space who will create an entire new world?"

"We will." My eyes narrowed at him.

"Very well," he gestured his arms at himself. "Come at me then, Eira."

"Cyrus! Eira!" My eyes widened when I heard that voice and I dared to turn around to see my mother race forward on my father's old pokemon Joker, his honchkrow that he had left behind, along with many other pokemon. "What in the name of Arceus are you doing?!"

The world was silent as my mother approached all of us. Mars and Jupiter tried to stop her, but she merely shoved them out of the way, her motherly strength coming out as she approached us. I was shocked to see that she was here. I was hoping that she'd never find out about this, however, I should have expected that she would have found out once she saw the news about the Team Galactic building in Veilstone. I felt a heavy weight place itself on my shoulders as I watched herself approach.

"Mrs. Helaine!" Parker's eyes went wide. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Stay out of this Parker!" I was shocked when my very own mother shoved my best friend aside and to the ground before coming up to me, pushing me back to where I was standing next to my father.

"Mother-"

"Don't you even start!" My mother's shrilling voice was like a frigid wind that cut through me. She huffed up to look at my father. "And what in Arceus' name are you doing here and bothering my daughter after you left us all that time ago?! What the hell do you have to say after all this time that you not only ignored us, but betrayed us and ruined our lives?!"

I dared to look over at my father and the shocked look came to his eyes. He looked the most awake that he had in all the time I'd known him. He raised a hand to his head in pain as she continued to screech at him before she turned to me.

"And how dare you?!" My eyes widened as she screeched at me. She hadn't done that since I was a little girl just after my father and my accident. "How dare you make me worry like that?! I never would have thought you would have gone against me like this! I thought Parker would… but not you! Do you have any idea how much pressure and people are going to be all over us after this? How much their going to drag us into this dark spot light? My daughter would never do that!"

"Mother-"

"Shut up!" She startled me the most when I felt a slap hit the side of my face from her. "The IPHP League is coming and they're going to take this asshole" she gestured to my father, "off to jail, and you're coming back to the house and are never leaving again!"

 _You should have kept a better eye on your daughter._ I flinched when I heard the cold voice enter our minds. I turned to look over to where I saw a woman standing below the red chain which glowed brightly. _But you were kind enough to take up the last few moments the red chain needed to gather energy of this place and now my plan will come to life!_

It was then that chain glowed through the entire chamber and two portals opened beside her.

 **Rosalie's Point of View (a few moments earlier):**

I watched as the children came to deal with my puppet and his organization, however, there wouldn't be enough time for them to stop the red chain.

I thought back to when I thought of this plan many years ago. I kept it from my husband in order to keep trump cards hidden in the instance that we needed more troops or more weapons and places to hide. While my last plan had backfired on tipping the control of the world and put it into chaos, this time, I was trying to create a whole entire other world, one that would be similar to our own, but would have pathways that only I and my brother would control.

The plan was to have the legendary pokemon of time and space to create a world where we could take all the time we needed to grow armies and steal pokemon where Violet and her group could never reach us until we created enough numbers that would overpower her. Even she and her group wouldn't be able to stop thousands of pokemon coming at all of them; eventually they would be taken down.

It would be a more long term plan, however, I was mad enough to wait that long. I'd already lost my sanity, my arms, my husband and my voice.

What else could they take from me but my life?

I watched as the girl made her way to Cyrus. I just needed another few moments…

I prepared to jump down and push her back myself, Cyrus had already proved that he would be unable to stop his daughter. I narrowed my eyes and prepared to jump to stop her, however, I was surprised to see when the mother made her way into the mountain and began yelling at the father and daughter both. I laughed silently at them.

The woman would buy the time that I needed.

I knew Cyrus would be released from my control when his wife and his daughter were present, as well as his wife yelling at him. His daughter nearly broke the control I had on him quite a few times, so to have them both of them with him. I was expecting it, my last set of puppets were also lost due to similar circumstances when it came to Jezebel Emery-Twain, I expected the same thing with Eira Helaine.

Hearing her yell and screech as the father and daughter dragged their family down with what they were doing was wonderful, it was riling up the young girl and emotionally scaring her, much like she'd done once before when she was a young girl and handling the emotional stress her mother threw onto her. It's like she's traveled into the past and all these years have been for nothing. She still didn't have a voice against her if her mother put her foot down.

I saw that the red chain was ready and it was time them to attack. _You should have kept a better eye on your daughter._ I noted from my hiding place just to see everyone freeze at my presence. _But you were kind enough to take up the last few moments the red chain needed to gather energy of this place and now my plan will come to life!_

I made myself known then, jumping before the red chain. It glowed and my plan was finally coming together when I saw the two portals open on either side of me.

 **Eira's Point of View:**

From where I was standing, the two portals took on two different colors of light, one of blue and one of pink before I saw two large beasts to come from them. One of them was a four legged creature that was coated in a thick blue and silver armor with what seemed almost like its skill extending backwards behind its head. Its armor also had spikes all over it, making it look dangerous. A bright jewel was imbedded in its chest like armor. It also had a tail and red eyes that matched Shadow's.

The other one was more a pink with silver armor, which stood on its hind legs and sat back a bit. The tail on this one was wider, as if I'd sat quite often like that. Its arms were smaller than its legs. Like the other, this one had jewels imbedded in its armor, but this one had it on either side of its shoulders. This pokemon looked smoother with its body, but the darker maroon stripes on its body still didn't settle the dangerous feeling I saw from looking at it. Its red eyes on the end of its head on its long neck matched Shadow's as well.

I knew these were her brothers. Dialga and Palkia…

 _I quickly polled out the pokedex to learn about them should we run into any problems. Dialga, the temporal pokemon. A legendary pokemon of Sinnoh. It is said that the time flows when dialga's heart beats. It has the power to control time. It appears in Sinnoh region myths as an ancient deity. There are no known dialga nests in this region._

 _Paklia, the spatial pokemon. A legendary pokemon of sinnoh. It is said that space becomes more stable with palkia's every breath. It has the ability to distort space. It is described as a deity in Sinnoh region mythology. There are no known palkia nests in this region._

I cringed when I realized just how powerful these pokemon were and wondered how we were going to save them from Rose. She had control of the red chain, which had its bright light taking over the area before its red glow was inflicted on to the two pokemon. I watched as the two of them cried out as the red chain took control and my wide eyes could only watch.

"Come on now!" My mother yanked on my arm. "We're getting out of here!"

"Mother, I can't!" I pulled against her grip, but her fingers only dug their way into my wrist further.

"No!" She turned back around to glare right into my eyes with almost of demonic look like what I remembered from a child, how she treated me. "We're going home and you're never coming out of that room again!"

She always got so angry when I didn't behave exactly like she wanted me to… I couldn't understand why she couldn't just be there for me as I suffered through everything instead of having to change for her. Was there nothing that could be done to sway her mind?

Whether she agreed with me or not, I couldn't just leave these pokemon to suffer here. I felt my eyes narrow at her while she growled, trying to pull me along when Bouncy finally stepped in and grabbed her arm, releasing me from it.

"I'm sorry Mother, but I have something I need to do. I don't plan on going back home and suffering anymore." I turned away from her and looked at the two suffering pokemon, feeling and feeding off of their pain. "I'm not a little girl you can just yell and scream at anymore or keep under your thumb. You can't abuse me anymore because things don't go your way."

"I never abused you-"

"Then you're in denial." I hissed at her and my mother's tune finally seemed to change as I looked back at her with my angry eyes that matched my father's. "Parker and Cordelia have been trying to get it through to me for years, and if they can see if, I know it's true. We both have been lying to ourselves for a long time now, but now it's time to change that. I refuse to go back to the way things used to be." I turned away from her again. "And I'm saving these pokemon, whether you agree with me or not."

"Eira Helaine!" she screeched out. "If you don't come back here this instant, then you're no longer my daughter!"

Her words hit me hard. It was just like her to be manipulative in this kind of way. My mother normally wasn't a bad person and she strived hard for things, but when situations were out of her comprehension or too stressful for her to handle, she turned dark, abusive in more of an emotional and mental way, which lead me to be part of the way I was.

When I was little, she used to use plays like this often to have better control over me when I was wild and suffering from the accident and the loss of my father. It worked all the time because I didn't want to lose one of the two most valued people to me in the past. But now things were different, I hated to think that I could give her up, but if it came down to it or saving lives of others that I can help, it was worth.

 _Even if it hurt…_

"Then I guess it's going to be a lonely house from now on." I heard my mother gasp as I continued to walk away from her. I could feel my heart beating faster and the warmth and power spreading. It was my team's power… it was Shadow's power, all gathering inside me to give me the strength I always wanted.

 _And what are you going to do little girl?_ I looked up before me to see Rosalie standing before me. It was true that she still scared me, after the encounter with her birth son Tristan; it was hard not to feel fearful as I looked at her scared and worn face from all the years of fighting. However, I didn't have a choice in the matter now. Others depended on me, and for that, I needed to stay strong.

 _I could overcome this… I wasn't the same person as before…_

"I plan to stop you." A black vortex suddenly appeared below my feet and Rosalie instantly cursed before jumping back to the other side of the temple. I heard other people demanding what was going on while the shadow's spread and reached out to destroy the chain over our heads. Once it was shattered, the two other pokemon glanced to me in shock as the vortex was much stronger at my feet and red eyes glowed out of it. A screeching cry echoed out of it and into the building while an appendage of some sort lashed out again and slashed at the machines here, tearing everything apart.

"Dialga, Palkia, go into the portal." The pokemon didn't wait a second longer and dived inside. They were gone instantly. I turned to Rosalie. "If you're truly after another world, then come face us in the Distorted World… my real home."

I returned my pokemon then and felt my body fall backwards. I instantly was coated by the shadows that belonged to my pokemon and I fell comfortably into them.

 **Witch's Note:**

… **What the hell?...**

 **Okay, even I was a little surprised by what I did in there at certain points! I was debating on many things for a while now (such as how to call out Joey for bad parenting when she was stressed! Or how to give Eira the orb!) But now that I have it done, I really like it!**

 **But were many people expecting that? With Eira going against her mother or how her bad side finally was revealed? I hope so, because I've been trying to hint at them for the entire story!**

 **So I hope I hear from you guys after this chapter! Was it along the lines of what you were hoping for? We'll be having even more drama in the next! More loose ends tied up and one of the two deaths I promised you in this story! So please don't forget to send in Questions and Reviews!**

 **Extra Note: ….Okay, so I lied. I went back through my notes and I found out that I'm killing off THREE characters! I'm excited to see how you guys feel about who I end up killing off, but one of the deaths still will happen next chapter! Look forward to it!**

 **Love you all and see you next week!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	26. The Distorted World

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 26: The Distorted World_

 **Eira's Point of View:**

I smiled when I found myself in the comfort of the world I'd seen as a child. It had been my escape for many years and finally I was able to come here as myself, rather than as a spirit. While the sky did still hold that extra red hue to its normally purple tones, it seemed calm, but I knew it was only for a short time. It was the calm before the storm…

I saw that Shadow was only a short distance from me. Her two brothers were gathered around her and she seemed happy in their presence. She was checking with them for any injuries of sorts or any remains of the chain on them. When she was satisfied, she turned to look at me as I approached her.

"Shadow… it's so good to see you in person, and truly whole this time…"

"Gya…" She leaned down so I could pet her head. I slowly petted it before I pulled back.

"You know, I promised you'd get to meet my entire team when I came here." I quickly released my team from their pokeballs and they looked around the place in wonder. Paladin was the first to notice Shadow and her brothers and he pointed up to them in question.

"Ra!" His arms were outstretched toward them and I laughed as I picked him up.

"This is the youngest Shadow, his name is Paladin." She lowered her face closer and showed the baby pokemon a smile. Paladin happily returned it and blew a raspberry at her. She chuckled at his cute attitude. I pointed to the others. "And then there's the rest of the team, Bubbly, Elecky, Magma and Bouncy."

All of my pokemon looked up at Shadow and her brothers with wide eyes. I'm sure they were more than shocked to see a legendary pokemon and myself talking so casually. It took a moment before Bouncy took it upon herself to bounce up into the air to become at level with Shadow's head as she talked to her. The others soon followed suit and I smiled at them as they all got to know each other in this other world.

"Miss Eira!" I turned around and I saw Celeste approach me with Rotom. She hugged my waist and I smiled at her while Rotom buzzed around my head before he came in close and I placed a single arm around both of them. "You came here for real this time!"

"I did." I cupped her cheek. "I opened the portal…"

"That means that the bad lady can come here too, right?" Her expression turned worried and I sighed.

"Yes… she can, but Shadow, I and the rest of the team will stop them. Okay?"

"Okay…" Celeste looked up at me hopefully. "You'll save the queen and her brothers, right?"

"Of course."

"Then will you take Rotom too?" I blinked at her request. She looked down at our feet. "I won't be able to stay here much longer… I don't want to leave Rotom… but he can't come with me."

"Don't worry about him, I'll look after him." I patted her head and it gave her some courage.

"Okay… then I'm ready…"

"Ready?" I blinked at her. "To leave?"

"Yes… but also to tell you about my brother…" She cried softly, fresh tears falling from her dead eyes. "Miss Eira… he killed me… and he killed Mr. Tony… our butler…"

"Why? Do you know? Or have a guess?"

"I think Big Brother was mad at me… because Rotom liked me better…"

I patted her head again. "I'll find him and take him to jail for the bad things he's done Celeste. I promise."

"Okay… thank you Miss Eira…" her body began to glow a white color as she turned around behind her. "Daddy!"

"Go on, he's waiting for you." I gave her a gentle little push; however, even my hands couldn't touch her anymore. She smiled at me one last time before she ran off toward where the paths I'd crossed many times stood. She vanished as she got halfway down the first.

 _She was finally free…_

I turned back to Shadow. "We need to prepare, Rose will be here before we know it."

Shadow nodded. She summoned her powers to begin reworking the world around her while Paladin and Rotom shivered in my arms, the latter of the two descending to them after Celeste had moved on.

Before anything bad could and would happen, I returned Paladin and pulled out another pokeball to capture Rotom. He easily let himself be captured by the device before I glanced to the others.

"Everyone be ready… she's coming…"

 **Parker's Point of View:**

We were all speechless as Eira let herself fall into the portal at her feet. It remained there and we watch in horror that Rose Agustino raced in after her, then another flew in, who I assumed was Razi Harper…

We were seriously in the big leagues now…

"Shit!" The IPHP League landed before the portal with Violet in the lead. She cursed at their luck as Eira, Rose and Razi were all in the same world now… alone…

"We gotta go after them!" Jezebel snapped. "If we don't, who knows what Rose will do?"

"We can't just rush in their blind Jez," Alex argued against her. "We don't know how this world works. We'd be doing no good if all we did was get lost as soon as we entered."

"But if we don't go after Rose, Eira will have no help or anyone to rely on." Gwyn struggled not to jump into the vortex on her own. Her boyfriend had a solid hold on her hand. "We have to try!"

"That's enough!" Violet silenced them with her words and a hard, stressful look. "We need to know more about this world, we'll be of no help to Eira if we're in the blind."

"Maybe I could help?" I stepped toward the League members and they watched me in shock. "Eira used to tell me about the world when she was younger. She drew maps of the passageways she used to take and how she found out if they were good or not. I might not remember them entirely, but I can recall them. She used to tell me that there were no rules to this place. She'd fall up waterfalls and walk on ceilings. Paths and pieces of earth would vanish or appear with every step."

"Do you think you could guide us to a certain degree?" Violet questioned.

"I won't know until I try, and I have to, this is Eira we're talking about." I clenched my fists in anger. "I can't just leave her."

"We won't leave her Parker," Alex noted. "That's a promise."

"If you feel even partly confident with heading in there, we'll take you." Violet nodded to me. "Any help you can give us would be amazing Parker."

"I'm coming too!" Cameron announced quickly. "I may not be strong, but Eira told me a bit about this other world she experienced. I may be able to help Parker lead you there with more detailed facts she told us."

Alex nodded. "Stay close to us then."

"Wait!" We all turned to see Cyrus who was holding his head. "Take me with you!"

"What?!" I yelled at him. "After all the crap you've done-"

"Parker, please, listen to me!" He begged as he continued to hold his head.

"I don't remember seeing you take on a head injury… unless…" Violet's eyes widened and she rushed over to the man. She quickly used her dark type pokemon's ability to heal him, but it also looked liked she was reading his mind. "How in hell did Rose get to you too?!"

"Vi, what's going on?" Alex questioned.

His girlfriend sighed. "Apparently Cyrus was also control by Rose, just like Jezebel's family."

"She caused the accident!" Cyrus pleaded. "It was her truck and her members! She came after me as soon as I woke up! I've been trying to break free, but I was the only one she took! Her control was so strong!" He fell to the floor and pounded his fists on the ground. "I almost broke free with my little girl there, in front of me, all those times! But I wasn't strong enough! It wasn't until it was Joey _and_ Eira that I was free…" He dared to turn and look at his wife. "You hurt her, didn't you? Without me there to take care of her, you didn't know how to discipline her and just made her suffer, didn't you?"

"I didn't know what to do!" Joey screamed back. "What was I supposed to do? You were gone for whatever fuckin reason and I was left with a damaged daughter who wouldn't give me the time of day!"

"And I'm sorry I didn't fight harder, but why did you hurt her?! Now she's going to resent you!"

"Don't you think I don't know that? Why didn't she just behave? That's all I wanted! I was suffering too!"

"So you took it out on our daughter?!"

" _Enough!_ " Jezebel screeched out over them. "Look, if you want to come, fine, we won't stop you, but save the argument for later okay? Eira needs you right now. She needs all of us."

"The let's go." Violet motioned for me to join her at the front. "Let's go save her, okay?"

"Yeah," Violet and I stepped through the dark vortex together, falling into the black.

 **Eira's Point of View:**

I could sense them; everyone had made their way through the portal, even my parents. I could sense them at the beginning, while Rose and Razi were well on their way to half of the journey done to reach us. I glared out to the landscape as I knew they were approaching.

In the time that we waited for Rose and Razi to get closer, I took and captured Shadow in a pokeball to keep her safe. Once I pulled out a pokeball, it was one that Violet had given to me long ago. It was a master ball, as she had called it, created in order to capture any pokemon out there without a release. She had noticed that it was used in order to help capture legendaries and keep them safe from evil people like Rose. It was created by her father and many other people that lived in Kanto.

The purple pokeball had turned black like in color, with a pale yellow color slipping into it, looking much like a dark haze with light trying to shine through. It was Shadow's ball, which would protect her and prove that she was truly mine, and I hers.

With Rotom and Paladin safely secured in the pokeballs, I could work on taking care of Rose in this world with whatever we could use.

"Shadow, your brothers should hide somewhere so they're not caught up into the battle." I mentioned to her as we waited. "She's coming, and we should use this world to slow her down." I looked up at her. "Do you think we can do that?"

She growled softly and nodded, feeling the woman getting closer made us both antsier. "Gya…"

"I know girl…" I sighed before I felt the energy of the orb inside me take control. "It's time…"

I felt it overtake me…

 **Parker's Point of View:**

We made our way through the shadow like portal before we ended up in a world of purple and red hues in the sky, like twilight, but made of a vortex or a pillar; both seemed to work to name its shape. I could only see a bit of the land before us, most of it way off into the distance, but a lot of pieces seemed to move without us even moving at all.

 _Had Eira already began the battle?_

"We're running out of time." Violet clenched her teeth. "Eira and her pokemon have already begun their assault on Rose and Razi. We need to move faster to get to them."

"Eira always noted how the paths that she chose weren't the obvious choices that she normally would make," Cameron noted. "She would say that when she'd walk to the side of where ever she was, a path would appear that would take her the long way around, but it tested her patience."

"Well, I'm afraid we don't have time for that." Jezebel's hands were pushed onto her hips as she huffed. "We can't waste time to take the long way around."

"Jezebel, don't be stupid, the strait path would cause us to get in the way of them attacking Rose," Gwyn argued. "Eira may stop her attack on those two to protect us or she would pelt us at the same time, either way, neither of us wins."

While the league argued, I moved slightly to the side, trying to mirror what Eira told me she would do. With every step, I watched the landscape to see what changed. I was surprised as I stepped enough to the side that I noticed a side path that seemed to go under the very path we were on.

"Eira… are you making this for us?" I couldn't help but whisper out, in hopes that it was her doing.

To my surprise, a stone appeared next to me. When I looked at it, I was surprised to see writing etched into it. "Follow this path Parker; it will lead you strait to me. Don't stray from it, else you will be caught up in this world's fight against Rosalie…"

"Violet!" I cried out the name of the eldest champion and she was quick to rush to me. When she and the others saw the change in the landscape, she grinned before reading Eira's message.

"She's made a path for us away from the fighting, let's go!" All of them were quickly covered in their changeling abilities and either ran or flew. I was grabbed and we rushed down the path that seemed to meet at the center of the world.

 **Third Person Point of View:**

Eira waited at the end, in the middle of the world for Rosalie to arrive and face her along with her team. She knew the woman was coming and there was no way to stop her other than to fight. With her friends safely warmed to take the lower path, and they did, she was prepared to use all the energy of this world to suffocate Rosalie and her brother right out of existence.

"Shall we, Shadow?" She turned to face the dragon pokemon behind her with cool eyes, ready to fight. "I believe we can slow her down and hurt her and her group before she gets here."

"Gya!" The dragon roared out and Eira allowed her hands to gesture in the direction that Rosalie Agustino and her brother Razi Harper were coming from. "Suffer, Rosalie, just as you have made others around you."

The land shattered into pieces and flew off in the direction that the evil woman and her brother were coming from. She watched as the land crumbled into small pieces and pelted the woman from a distance, but it seemed to do little to stop her.

"Shall we add in more?" She looked back to the dragon she'd bonded with and her team. "Everyone attack together! I'll control this world!"

Attacks flew together of water, electricity, fire, fighting and ghost types all together, as well as lodged together with the land masses created in this world that Eira controlled. They all slammed above to create a massive explosion that echoed across the entire world. A scream could be heard, male in voice.

Eira watched hesitantly from the center of the world, watching for how Rosalie and Razi had faired. When the smoke had cleared from their attack, she saw that Razi had taken the brunt of the hit. His arm was covered in burns and cuts, which Rosalie was quickly trying to heal for him. Both of them were in sight now.

"Back off Rose!" Eira was surprised to see Violet had made it in record time and slammed into the woman, throwing her off into the world. The two women hurled themselves at each other before their pokemon were released and they began battle as well.

"Shit Rose!" Razi cried out after his sister, trying to hurry to her with his injured arm which wasn't entirely healed. He was hit in the back and thrown away and he raced to look around and see Jezebel grinning down at him in malice.

"Remember me?" She licked her claws in the form of her blaziken. "How about round two Razi?!"

The younger woman charged at the older man. He flinched from the hit as he was thrown again and his pokemon quickly released. It was different compared to the last time when they fought, legendary pokemon for them to control and innocent civilians to be hurt weren't there. Jezebel took advantage of that and used her energy to attack him endlessly, her friends closely behind her to provide assistance.

"Eira!" The young woman was surprised to see her two close friends approach her as well as both her mother and her father.

"What's the meaning of this?" Eira stepped backward and rocks cracked and scattered in the air around her. Her eyes had turned a blood red color as she watched her father flinch and step back.

"Eira, hang on!" Parker quickly rushed up to her, startling her. "He's not the bad guy! Rose was controlling him the entire time! She took him from you when you were little!"

"He's not lying, Violet read his mind and confirmed it." Cameron approached her carefully. "He never meant to do any of the stuff he'd done and he wants to make amends, no matter how difficult they are."

Eira dared turn to the direction of her father. Not in eight years had she seen him with such a haunted face, not since before their accident together. He looked at her with pleading eyes and clenched his fists.

"Eira… I know you must hate me… I'm so sorry I couldn't stop myself from hurting you for all these years. I'm so sorry!" The man sobbed to his child. "I know I'm a terrible father, but if there's anything I can do or that you need, I'll do it for you! I promise! Rose's control was broken with both you and your mother there with me! Look into my mind, tear it apart! I don't care! Whatever it takes for you to believe me!"

Eira stared at her father for the longest set of time. Whatever was on her mind was unseen by all except for her best friend Parker. He knew the signs to read her, and to understand her. He watched her eyes scrunch up as she weight pros and cons to listening to him.

"Eira…" The girl turned to look at her best friend. "Listen for just a second. I'll admit… I'm pretty pissed at a lot of the things he's done to us in the past, but since he didn't want to do them… and its Rose's fault… can we really blame him?"

That made the young girl blink. She continued to ponder before she slowly began to step forward. She slowly moved toward her father before she stood right before him. She looked at him with cool eyes, not giving away any changing to her behavior.

"You didn't join Rose willingly?"

"No," her father replied as soon as he heard the question.

"And you never meant to leave Mother and I?"

"Never… I was actually… trying to get out of you what you wanted for your birthday before the crash…"

Eira seemed to ponder the memory for a quick moment before she looked back up at him. "What did I want for my birthday?"

Parker and Cameron seemed stunned by the questionnaire Eira seemed to be giving her father. Her mother, however, was furious. She stormed to Eira and took a hold of her shoulders.

"What in the hell are you doing Eira?!" The older woman shook her daughter. "Baby girl, don't you realize that he's tricking you?"

"Mother, please stay out of this." Eira refused her mother's warning and continued to look at her father. "Well?"

"You didn't want anything," he replied. "Not anything of material value anyway. You wanted to have a dinner and cake with your family… and when you were older I'd let you ride Joker… I remember promising you that when you turned six."

Eira stared at him long and hard before she seemed to let out a sigh she was holding. Once it left her system, she smiled up at the man.

"I forgive you." She smiled sweetly at him and moved closer to the man, pushing herself into his arms. "I missed you Papa…"

"I missed you too baby girl…" Cyrus' arms came around his girl in a swift moment to hold her in the embrace they'd missed out on for eight years. She hugged him warmly and him just as tightly. They were able to hold each other for a few moments before they were ripped away from each other. Joey was the one to blame.

"What the hell are you doing now Cyrus?" Joey was screaming at the two of them. "You're fooling her all over again! And Eira? How could you accept him back so quickly? He has a price to pay for what he's done."

"Mother, stop. He's family." Eira narrowed her eyes at Joey. "Papa is family, no matter what. I know it's confusing to you, but he was controlled by that evil woman we're fighting right now. Because of that, he was taken from us. I believe my friends, so I believe him." Eira's eyes softened. "Please Mother… let us be a family again…"

"No, he screwed us over! That lying bastard never wanted to see us again! And you're trying to disgrace our family name! Now you both plan to leave me!"

"Mother-"

"SHUT UP!" Joey screamed. "I HATE BOTH OF YOU!"

Eira's eyes widened. All eyes turned to her in worry as her eyes became downcast as she looked at the ground. Her mother was heavily breathing before her face contorted to regret.  
"Eira?" Joey slowly made her way toward her daughter, but Cyrus was there before her. The man glared down at his wife in disgust.

"I've believe you've done enough Josephine." Cyrus' cold words frightened her and forced her to see the reaction of what she began. "Be gone."

"Wait, Cyrus! I didn't mean it! I was angry!" The woman turned to her daughter. "Eira, I'm sorry-"

"LOOK OUT!" Cameron's cry filled the air just as what seemed to be a knife flew through the air. Cyrus and Parker dived for Eira while Cameron and Joey were forced to fend for themselves. The wind was howling and soon, something flew through the air and hit flesh.

The moment seemed to freeze. Just as Eira was to hit the ground with both her father and Parker protecting her, she watched her mother move, but not in time. Eira watched in horror as a knife flew through the air, the silver coloring of its blade flashing against the light as if soared, before it landed in her mother's back, piercing her heart.

Joey could hardly respond before her eyes and body seemed to fail her. She looked back at her family, reaching out toward them with love in her eyes, knowing she was soon to be gone.

"I love you."

Her body hit the ground with a thud. Moments passed as the world went still as they watched her, hoping for movement, however, there was none. Blood left her body from the wound, creating a puddle around her, ever growing in size as the blood endlessly poured from her.

"Mother?" Eira pushed herself off the ground and free of both men that protected her. But nothing could protect her from the sight of her dead mother. She watched the body, waiting for any kind of response, yet received none. "Mother? Please get up…"

The air was silent, Eira watched the body of her mother longer, only then noticing that she wasn't moving or that there was a knife in her back. Eira stopped moving toward her when she was at the edge of her mother's blood spot. Eira refused to move any closer, as if she was afraid to touch the blood.

"Mom?" It had been many years since Eira had called her mother the simpler name for her parent. So many years of suffering brought on a sort of politeness that got in the way of affection. "Mom… get up!"

Still Joey was unable to move.

Eira stood there, watching the gruesome sight as the wheels that were frozen in her head actually began to move and take in the true sight before her. Her mother was truly dead, killed by the two above. The girl slowly raised her head up to look at who had thrown the knife. Rose seemed to be halted, but didn't seemed to have thrown anything. As Eira was looking around another flash of silver came into her vision. A shadow shot up from the ground to stop it only for Eira to look and the culprit was Razi. He had many knives twirling in his hands while he was in the form of his mismagius. He grinned down at the girl, happy to inflict pain onto her in any way.

"You and I haven't officially met yet Eira." He threw more knives at her. "I'm Razi, do remember it when you die!"

Eira stood there as the knives approached her before shadows lept at her defense. They stopped all knives from cutting through to attack the young girl as she watched him from the other side. Tears started to stream from her eyes as she looked back to her mother.

"Mom… you're dead…" The teen stuttered and shivered as she slowly was taking on the information of her mother's death. Her hands slowly raised themselves to her head as if searching for a headache. "No…"

"If you're going to fight me, I'd actually like that other then you just sputtering nonsense over there." Razi grinned at the girl below him.

"Leave her alone you asshole!" Jezebel cried out. The youngest champion was angry at herself for not seeing Razi's precise attack on Eira Helaine's mother. "You fucking killed her mother!"

"Remind you of anything… Champion Jezebel?" Razi could only laugh as he through to the woman, Brittany Emery-Twain, who had been killed in the last year; sure it would bring up sore and agonizing memories for Jezebel.

A sudden slam alerted everyone that something had happened. Jezebel blinked as she saw that two massive land masses had both slammed into Razi's form. A moment later, he burst threw them, he had been surprised and unable to phase through them before hand. Everyone looked for the culprit, until their eyes landed on Eira Helaine.

Tears raced down the sides of her face while her hands griped around the sides of her skull, pulling at hair and her hat. A crazed look to her eye before her mouth opened wide and she screamed. Her cries echoed throughout the entire world and soon after, the skies of lavender that were always present turned into storm clouds of red and black that swirled around everyone like a vortex, trying to suffocate them.

Eira Helaine had lost control…

"Eira!" Parker shouted and hurried to his feet, however, he was not fast enough. Before he had gotten close to Eira, wings of gold and silver protruded from her back and she leapt into the air. A silver like amour protected her while her legs vanished and became a tail. Her eyes had turned blood red as they glared at Razi, the murderer of her mother.

Once she took flight, the landscape surrounding everyone everywhere began to crumble and attack, following her to attack Razi.

Eira Helaine had become a changeling…

"Shit!" Razi dived just as Eira came in close, but Eira would not let him get away. Her form turned into that of a shadow and she raced after him, quickly gained ground against him and used her claws to slash at him. She managed to hit him, her claws deeply embedded into his shoulder before she yanked her arm back. Razi screamed out in pain as much of his blood was lost from the wound.

"Razi!" Rose finally used action against the youngest female used curse on her. Eira only turned her head and looked back at her with crazed eyes that seemed unfazed by the attack. It was likely that her ghost and dragon type changeling form was unaffected by such a move.

"Won't… work…" Eira sucked in a breath before she screamed out and the land masses began to chase Rose. The evil woman then caused her body to become intangible, but the rocks still managed to hit her. She screamed out as she tried to gather her bearings before looking at Eira.

"Won't… work…" Her body was coated in a rich purple and black ghostly power. It changed the form of the rocks to work on intangible1 objects and people. The items made in the Distorted World worked in that sort of form under the rule of Giratina and whoever she combines herself with.

The vortex of a world seemed to get smaller by the minute. Violet was quick to notice this while Eira was lashing out. In her rage she was trying to kill everything that had invaded the Distorted World, and would accidently kill her and her group as well as innocent lives if not stopped.

"Alright, we gotta go!" Violet was quick to rush forward and hurry to the innocent lives that were Eira's family and friends. "We need to get out of here before she destroys this place and us along with it!"

"But what about Eira?" Parker demanded of the champion.

"Eira controls this world, she and Giratina will be fine, but we'll get caught up in the blast of her attack and her destroying this world to make sure those two don't escape!" Violet reached forward to grab the body of Joey Helaine. "Come on!"

Other members of the league were quick to grab the other three that still lived, both of Eira two friends, Parker and Cameron, and her father, Cyrus Helaine. Jezebel was one of the last to get moving, watching the suffering girl, who went through similar pain as herself only a year ago when Rose killed her mother. It was exactly the same, a controlled family, a broken life, and pain.

"Jezebel! We have to g-go!" Mattie was pulling on her arm as he tried to get her to go to the portal that would lead them back to the mountain where they were before.

"No Mattie, I'm staying here." Mattie blinked at his girlfriend in shock before he roughly tried to pull on the girl.

"Jezebel!"

"No Matthew!" Jezebel ripped her arm out of Mattie's hold. "I'm not leaving this girl alone. You didn't leave me alone when I lost my mom; I'm going to be here for her when she's done and when she needs me." Jezebel paused for a moment. "Mattie, look at her."

Mattie took his eyes off his girlfriend and watched from a distance as the younger girl was racing after Razi in a blinded rage. Her pokemon, all of them, were following shortly after her over the broken material and with the assistance of Shadow, Eira's giratina, were closing in on them to continue the onslaught.

"…Okay." Mattie relented and released his girlfriend's arm. "But Jez… please be careful…"

She kissed him softly on his lips, holding his hand tightly. "You know I will."

Mattie looked at her one last time before turning his back and flying out toward the portal that he'd come from. Jezebel remained behind and watched Eira's rage, much like her own, after the actions of others and death of her family.

Jezebel would remain there until Eira needed her, but first, the younger girl needed to fight.

Elecky was quick to jump from one rock to the next to her trainer and unleashed lightning into the sky above. The sky took it and sucked in the energy from the electric type pokemon before throwing it back out ten times stronger. It made the battlefield a roaring storm as all the pokemon threw their attacks into the area to take down the evil duo.

Rose was easily evading attacks, but that was only because most of them were faced against her brother. Rose did not like that and did whatever she could to help him and protect him from attacks, but it wasn't working out well for her. Tried as she might, Eira would not let up on her earth shattering attacks that let the Distorted World in more ruin then it normally was. The world was red and black, colors of rage and fury.

They were the colors of Eira's heart.

The human raged. Her fury was only matched by those that fought beside her. Bubbly was right next to her, following after her trainer to the best of her abilities, along with Magma. The two of fire and water both combined their attacks to create a heavy mist of sorts to cause it to be difficult for Razi to escape.

Bouncy was quick to jump through the haze and slam her body into Razi's, hurling him toward the lower levels of the very world itself. The man looked up just in time as both legendary pokemon and human rushed forward with claws extended. Eira reached him first, taking off his arm and part of his side, while Shadow managed to take off his leg.

Razi screamed out while he and his limbs fell. Eira raced after him, making it to the two limbs first and slashed them into pieces.

Razi would never be able to use them again.

"Razi!" Rose screeched and raced after her brother, trumping Eira's speed and grabbing him and taking off in an instant. Rose knew better. When one of these girls rages, there's no hope, there is endless bloodlust in their way and even Rose knows when to quit in order to save what she had.

Eira cried out and finally completed what she had been working on. She growled and narrowed her eyes before she finally let loose her power.

She was going to close the world in on itself.

Eira's pokemon gathered around her to be protected from the attack as both Eira and Shadow together attacked and pulled the world in on itself in an effort to crush Rose and Razi before they could find an exit to this world.

"Rose!" Razi, with what strength he had left, pointed to a portal that appeared suddenly appeared. Rose dove for it, just as the vortex was closing in and going to crush them. A loud slamming sound was heard.

Eira looked upon the spot with no emotion. Rose and Razi had escaped. Once they were out of the Distorted World, Eira's power couldn't control everything around her anymore. Her powers were limited to that of only a changeling and her pokemon.

"Eira?" The young girl turned her head to look at the single person who had remained behind for her. Jezebel slowly made her way up to the girl. "You okay?"

"Jezebel…" Eira started to come to from her rage. Tears streamed from her eyes. "My mother… she's dead… and Razi… he got away…"

"I know." Jezebel opened her arms and the girl flew into them as fast as her wings could carry her.

"I'm going to kill him Jezebel!" The champion only held the girl tighter as she declared that. "I'm gonna kill him and make them suffer! I hate them!"

"I know." Jezebel rubbed the top of her head while the girl finally gave into her agony and cried, screaming out into the depths of this world as it lied in pieces.

 **Parker's Point of View:**

Violet had managed to drag us all out of the portal to the mountains where we all started. Cyrus was pacing next to the body of Mrs. Helaine, stopping every now and then to cry for her before doing it all over again and worrying for Eira. We were all worried for her, only Champion Jezebel had been allowed to stay with her. I hated it, but I didn't really have a say in the matter.

When we'd arrived back here, Dialga and Palkia had been waiting here worriedly. Apparently Shadow and Eira had warned them to escape back out here where they'd be safe from the fight and they waited here for the entire time before we met up with them. Violet was asking them questions while we waited for them and everyone kept an eye on the portal.

I still just couldn't believe it. Mrs. Helaine was dead… I mean… how was Eira going to take that? I know it wasn't good… but damn it… It was Eira of all people! Why did this have to happen just as she got her dad back? What the hell? It's not fair for her! And she was just starting to be honest with herself and her mother!

I was just feeling nothing but rage and anger. Eira was just starting to become herself again, come out of her shell, and escape the place where she was stuck. I didn't know how badly this was going to set her back. How was she going to handle her father back, but now her mother is gone? It's like ripping the bandage off a wound before plunging a knife into to make it worse after it'd healed.

"Parker…" I was surprised when Mr. Helaine made his way over to me. "How are you holding up?"

"Just about as well as you I bet…" I sighed, clenched my fist before trying to stop myself. I knew I couldn't do much of anything right now. I wasn't as strong as Eira, so there wasn't much I could do in my state…

"Tell me about my daughter."

"…What?" I looked up at him as if he'd turned into a pokemon with three heads.

"I don't know much about my daughter since I missed out on more the half of her life." Mr. Helaine paused for a moment before he looked up at me again. He messed with the wedding band on his finger, which had never been taken from him after all these years. "Tell me about what's happened, so have some information on her, and how to help her, besides being there for her, which I will be, I promise you." He pleaded with me. "I'm a stranger to my own daughter… please Parker… I know you've been there for her all these years."

"You don't know the half of it Mr. Helaine…"

He chuckled lightly. "I remember when you used to call me that… you don't have to be formal with me. That was Joey's thing. Its Cyrus to you, kid."

"Thanks…" I took a small glance over at Mrs. Helaine's body. "Eira's not going to be well after all of this…"

"I know Parker… I know…" the older man sighed.

"Eira… she's been broken for a long time… I spent many years trying to take care of her, but when Mrs. Helaine got into one of her fits… it didn't end well for Eira. Eira shut herself off from people for a long time until we started the journey. She became claustrophobic, hated cities, and it was only on rare occasions that she even smiled. She hardly ever spoke, still doesn't to a certain extent. I can normally read her decently, so it helps when she doesn't tell me things." I chuckled. "The only downside to that was that she could do that same thing back to me…"

"That's how women in general are Parker. They know us like the back of their hands." I felt him clamp a hand on my shoulder. "Thank you for taking care of her, both of them… for so long… I know it must have been really hard… Joey could be a bitch when she wanted to be."

I groaned. "You're telling me…"

"How was Eira… during her journey with you?"

"She was coming out of her shell. We fought against your organization… she found relief to the suffering she's been under. She kept it from Mrs. Helaine for obvious reasons."

He man nodded. "I bet."

"She has a good team of pokemon that mean the world to her, and I was with her all this time as she started to find her way." I grinned at him. "She won the Grand Festival this year you know."

"She did, my baby girl?" Cyrus was shocked at that statement. "I didn't think she'd go after Joey's path…"

"She went after both contests and gym leaders. She found them both really fun." I sighed. "She plans to go after the Pokѐmon League next, win the championship."

He looked at me. "Do you plan to battle her there?"

"No… Eira's been through enough. I don't want to do that to her. She deserves the title." I looked at my lap. "She's going to kill him, even if she doesn't now, you know."

"I do… we've unconsciously bred a terrible thing inside of her, and now we have to face that, as well as her." Cyrus sighed. "My baby girl… I can't believe this…"

"Eira! Jezebel!" The very two girls that we were waiting for came out of the portal.

"Eira?" The girl walked past most everyone until she stood before me. Tears streamed out of her eyes, they were bloodshot.

"Parker…" she sobbed. "He got away… they both…"

"Eira… it's okay…" I held out my arms for her. "I'm here."

She nodded slowly before she ran to me. In a single second, she'd smothered herself into my arms as she sobbed. Her mother dead… and Razi, who murdered her, escaped. What was left of her shattered before me and she fell. I held her as we sunk to the floor.

But I knew Eira, she was hurt now, but in time, she'd be able to move forward. She'd done it all the other times, and I knew she'd do it again.

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Oh Christ! So Eira destroyed the Distorted World in order to avenge her mother, and it didn't happen! And it was Razi this time who was the killer! What the hell is going to happen?**

 **Now that I finally got this chapter done, we'll be moving onto the next where poor Eira starts to get back on track after everything that happened. Once she's had a while to get herself in working order.**

 **But also, we should have a moment to grieve the loss of Joey Helaine…**

…

…

…

 **I hope that was the death you all were looking for! But we also have two more in this story before the end of it! So keep your eyes peeled! I'm super excited for this! You guys won't believe who I kill off next!**

 **But now I better get back to work then people! I'll see you next time when I have up the next chapter! Love you all and don't forget to Review and Send in Questions!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	27. Getting Back on Track

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 27: Getting Back on Track_

 **Eira's Point of View:**

"Fascinating! So this is how you discovered how these types of eevees evolve into these forms?"

"Yeah, it took a bit of work, but soon enough, after some training near the rocks there, I discovered that the rocks radiate off a special type of energy that evolves them! It takes a bit of dedication on the eevees' part…"

I tuned out their conversation after only a few minutes of staying in the laboratory. I was her with both of my friends, my father and Professor Rowan. For a long while now, I'd used the lab as a sort of comfort for myself after the events of everything that took place.

My mother had been buried shortly after the IPHP League settled most things. They took care of any lawyers for us, so I wouldn't have to be separated from my father or my friends, though we were asked to give statements about the whole event that took place.

Things had been quiet since then, other than my mother's service… it was difficult to go to, and I spent most of my time staying close to Parker and my father. It was difficult to deal with the service. Papa and I talked about it, and we decided to cremate her and bring her home. My father and I were only able to see her for a few minutes before everything came crashing down. I was happy to have him back, but at what happened… I don't know if I'd say that's what I wanted…

Since everything had been taken care of, I'd mostly stayed with Parker and Cordelia. Papa also stayed there, just to avoid the house for the first week or so. Going into the house I grew up with her with… it was just too hard. The two of them understood and Cordelia helped me like she always had when I was a child. She was slow and soft with me when it came to anything, and quite often she made me mint tea just like my mother had. It saddened me terribly in order to have the very treat that I knew would calm me down, but my mother had been the one to get me hooked on them in the first place.

Papa had since gone back to working for Professor Rowan, saying that it would help his coping process to have a real job again instead of the ugly memories he had of Team Galactic for the past eight years. He enjoyed spending time with the professor as well as Cameron and learning all the things he'd missed in the many years he'd been gone. In fact, that was what their conversation of the present was about, with two new eevee evolutions that they were looking into. However, there was still one that left the professor thrown for a loop, and that was the most recently discovered one of another region known as Kalos which held a eighth evolution known as sylveon, and was one of the strange fairy types that had been discovered in recent years.

The IPIP League kept close tabs on all of us once everything was done to keep haters off Papa's back once he came home. Some members of Team Galactic tried to come and get him to return to Team Galactic or curse at him for betraying them. Violet and her group were able to keep most of them at bay, but it was hard most of the time to deal with their taunts and my father had no choice but to accept the abuse.

Parker rarely left my side after everything. He stayed with me most nights, allowing me to have his bed while he'd rest on the floor, awaiting a nightmare that I was sure to have if Shadow wasn't able to join my dream with the others in order to keep me calm, much like she had when she pulled me to the Distorted World in spiritual form. Only one time had he left and that was to get his eighth gym badge after I was left with the Professor, Cameron, and even Vince who had volunteered to stay with me about a week ago. He promised to go there and be right back after his battle. He didn't like to leave me and was back within two hours. But he also brought me something back, new hair clips for my hair that were silver in color. I loved them since my yellow ones were getting a bit ratty and didn't hold my hair back as well.

But it was also because of those clips that brought me back to reality. Sure, Razi had gotten away, but sitting here, doing nothing, wasn't helping. If I wanted to beat him next time and kill him, I need to win the title of Sinnoh Champion besides the Grand Festival title over my head to help me do that. I wouldn't be ready to move on until my mother was avenged, but that wouldn't be long if I had my way.

The others had gone inside, my pokemon were surrounding me on the edge of the property near the entrance of the woods. Once my human friends and family were gone, I sighed and took a deep breath before I returned most of my pokemon except for Bouncy and Elecky.

"Shall we have a race to Sunyshore?" Both of my pokemon grinned at me as soon as they heard that. I allowed Bouncy to carry Paladin, who was looking forward to the race, and I sat on Elecky, eager to see who would win and try to get some energy into my team instead of sadness and anger.

"Three, two, one, go!" They took off and I grabbed onto Elecky to make sure I didn't fall off.

It was exhilarating to be on the move again, and I most definitely needed it.

 **Parker's Point of View:**

Eira had decided to stay outside while we went back in. Normally I didn't leave her for very long periods of time on her own, but she seemed to be slowly coming back to us as time went on. She communicated with me and her pokemon most often, or her father when he wasn't busy with work to help him work past the death of Mrs. Helaine… however, I knew that nothing would help either of them until Mrs. Helaine was avenged, and I'm sure that Eira was devising some sort of way to do that while she kept to herself.

I'd left Eira alone for a moment to make her some mint tea. Even after everything that's happened, she still loved the tea that brought back the good memories she had of her mother, despite the bad ones she had. I remembered how tough it was growing up with Mrs. Helaine. I tried to be the one to make her angry most of the time so she's stop harping on Eira when she was in a mood. My mother didn't like it, but she understood. She and Mrs. Helaine had been friends since they were young, and treated each other like siblings. While my mother had been furious any time I got verbally or physically hurt because Mrs. Helaine couldn't handle Eira or myself, she put up with it until Eira was ready to come forward with it. It really irritated me that it didn't happen until right before she died.

Once I had the mug made, I made my way past the others to hand it to her outside the lab. She'd been spending a lot of time out there when she needed time to think about everything. I would give her a few moments so she could enjoy it, but I would return to make sure she was okay. Eira was someone I didn't like to leave alone very long.

As soon as I opened the door and headed out, I noticed how quiet it was. But it was always quiet with Eira around. She normally didn't speak often still, but she was working on it. It would just take time.

"Eira, I made you some mint tea, want some?"

I didn't hear a response.

I looked around for Eira and my eyes widened when I saw she wasn't in her normal spot. Hell, she wasn't even in the yard. I whipped my head around, left and right, before I called out to the others that she had vanished.

"Cyrus! Cam! Professor! Eira's gone!" In my rush to find them over Eira's disappearance, I'd dropped her mint tea and the mug shattered on the ground.

I found them in the main room, everything work related had stopped and they looked at me in shock. Cyrus was the first to move, stepping before me with wide eyes.

"My baby girl is gone?!" He grabbed my shoulders and shook me in worry. "Did you see her?"

"No, she's not there! I went to go give her tea!"

"Calm down Parker, I'm sure she is fine." The professor moved to a computer. "Come, I can find the signal of her poketch and locate her."

We all gathered around him in no time at all. The computer took a few moments before I saw a larger red circle appear over the region. It slowly got smaller until it appeared over the area west of Pastoria, heading toward Sunyshore. I sighed when I saw her.

"Do you see now? It seems she must be heading to Sunyshore in order to retrieve her eighth gym badge." The professor closed down the program and turned back to his work.

"But Professor," Cameron argued. "She was moving really fast on the screen, could be upset or in any danger?"

"No, we would have noticed that." The professor sighed. "I'm sure after being here for so long, she wished to allow her pokemon a chance to stretch their legs and prepare for the gym. They are probably having a race of some sort. They have been cooped up within the lab and Parker's home for quite some time now, I'm sure it was beginning to get to her." The professor moved some things out of the way for the papers he was going over of notes and pictures that went with there for evidence of his finds. "Eira has finally been able to begin moving on, however, I doubt she will get far until Razi has been dealt with for Joey's murder."

"Of course Professor Rowan…" Cameron sighed as he got back to the papers.

"Now help me finish this up so we can go watch her match." Everyone blinked at the older man in surprise. "What? Didn't think I'd want to see how she'd fair? Nonsense, that girl is like a daughter to me." He handed the papers over to Eira's father. "File these Cyrus and then call out Joker, we shall be leaving momentarily."

"Thank you professor!" Cyrus hurried off to the cabinets around the corner before I heard him slam it open.

"You may wish to prepare another mug of tea for Eira." The professor patted my shoulder and I quickly rushed off to the small kitchen he had here. I prepared a mug of tea for her just in time as the others prepared to leave.

 **Eira's Point of View:**

We made it to Sunyshore in record time before things seemed to become clear that Elecky and Bouncy had tired. Both of them panted tiredly once we had arrived at the coastal town in the lower east corner of the region. Paladin was cheering both his older sister's on as we stood before the entrance.

"Incredible you two… Shall we head in?" My pokemon nodded and Paladin jumped into my arms while my two other pokemon decided to walk beside me and catch their breath.

We traveled our way into the town itself and instantly we were captured by its beauty. Not only was Sunyshore known as a coastal town, which brought people to use the resorts here on the beaches, but it also consisted of many markets that contained an endless variety of wears for people to buy, some of them very useful items, some just pretty in appearance such as a decorative piece, ribbons or something else of the sort. The possibilities were endless.

We walked through the heart of town, trying to make our way to the gym when we were stopped by Bouncy. She had recently become more interested in decorative items since she evolved into a lopunny. She gazed at ribbons, jewelry, pins and just about anything you could think of, but her favorites were still scarves. She still had the lavender one I bought her as a buneary, but now, with her evolution, she could wear it much more easily.

The scarf itself now wrapped easily around her neck a couple of times with the two tails hanging behind her. I would watch they snap in the wind as she jumped and raced everywhere with her new found strength. She loved that scarf, but she liked to also have other colors as well. I hadn't bought any of the ones she looked at before since I was worried that she'd continue to trip over them. Now that she was evolved and much more confident, I didn't see any reason not to splurge a bit on my pokemon.

I mean, I already do the same with Bubbly and food…

"Bouncy… do you want to get some of them?"

My pokemon was quick to face me with glittering eyes as she eyed the stand that had many different colored scarves. When I saw all of them, they were made of a soft material from what I could see, most likely even softer then what my eyes were telling me. I saw a verity of colors, and the sign next to them mentioned that they were handmade.

"Lu lu!" She pointed to almost every color that was on the stand. They were a bit more then I would normally pay for scarves, but if it's for Bouncy, I'm sure my wallet would survive.

"Okay…" I turned to the woman who was facing away from us at another customer that she'd just finished with. "Excuse me Miss? May I have one of each color of your scarves?"

"Oh my! If it isn't Eira Helaine!" The woman gasped when she got a good look at me. Her hand touched her cheek as she looked at me in fascination. "Now I would have never thought you'd be at my shop!"

I blinked at her in shock _. I_ _was known by her? Who would have told her about me?_ I continued to look at her silently until she blinked out of her haze and looked back at me in shock.

"Oh my… you don't know?" She sighed. "My dear, you must have been away for a while and out of touch in mourning your mother, eh? You're all over the news. With Team Galactic disbanded and your mother's sudden death, the IPHP League were tasked with distributing the news out so that we were all aware that your father was an innocent man and to be careful in case Rosalie Agusnto and her brother came here."

"I see…"

"So you are quite famous now my dear, after all, you saved us from that terrible woman. I do hope that someone is able to take her and Razi down soon… the world is going into shambles because of the two of them…"

"…"

"Oh that's right!" The woman seemed to remember something as she shifted about in her small stall of a store. "You're a very shy girl, aren't you? I would keep an eye out for fans; they'll be after your autograph or anything they can get now." She placed what I had ordered in a large bag. "Now here's your scarves, and a little something extra I added. The price will be three hundred dollars please."

I looked at the woman in question. "… That's very low… Bouncy wanted quite a few of your items… shouldn't it be more around five or six hundred?"

"Normally, yes, but I'm giving you a discount, not because I pity you sweet heart, but as a thank you, for doing what so many of us can't do, such as stand up to that woman and be brave." The woman smiled at me. "Not many people could do that. Just look at all the people here in the city; none of them would fight against Rose. They would be too afraid of her."

"I see…" I knew the woman was right, not many had the courage to face up against a notorious criminal and murderer. Rosalie is by far one of the most dangerous people in the entire world. The only one right after her would be Razi, and the only ones who stood a chance against either was Violet's league.

"Ah, perhaps you may wish to speak to that man over there?" The woman pointed off into the crowd. "I imagine since you're in town that you plan to battle at the gym. The gym leader Volkner Thurman, and it seems that he's talking a stroll."

True to the woman's word, I saw a man with lightning yellow hair on his head. It was slightly longer the most males would wear their hair and framed his face, but extended no longer then his chin. His skin was pale in color and his body was mostly covered. With it being spring, he seemed to be favoring a mid-tone blue jacket and midnight blue jeans. Black shoes were on his feet and what seemed to be a yellow chain hung from the side of his hip, making a light "ching" of a sound as he walked.

The man looked around at the stalls, ignoring most of what was around him until he seemed to focus on me. I watched as he stopped before me, blinked a time or two, and shifted his hold on what appeared to be a bag of groceries.

"So you finally arrived here, huh, Helaine?" His eyes seemed to lack energy as he looked me over. "I heard you're strong, are you here for a battle?"

"Yes, I'm here for my eighth badge." I nodded lightly to him. "I only stopped here before hand for my pokemon, she enjoys shopping."

"I see…" The man lightly nodded before he turned his back to me. "I'll take you to the gym."

As I followed after the man, waving good-bye to the shop keeper that had helped me; I took note of how the man seemed to have an uninterested sort of persona. _Was he not interested in battles? Did he not like people? Did he find them boring? Or maybe pokemon instead? If so for any of those questions, then why was he a gym leader?_

All the gym leaders in the past that I'd met had some sort of fire or excitement to them, while it would slightly bother me at times, it showed me that they had a good relationship with those around them and were happy. This man however, was hard to read. I couldn't figure him out…

Is this what it's like when the others can't read me?

I silently followed after the gym leader across the town and passed by many other stands. I could see many people trying to get the man attention, but he never seemed to care to please any of them. Many of the women swooned at his cold behavior, but glared daggers at me for following after him. I didn't let them see it, but it confused me greatly that they were angry with me. _To what reason were they upset with me? I only wanted my eighth gym badge…_

We rounded another corner and seemed to climb up a large set of bridges that covered over the bottom of the city, which seemed to provide for sections that were in rough mountains high up away from the true bottom of the city. It seemed that this man had his gym on the side of a mountain. It looked like Sunyshore seemed to take advantage of this rough terrain and use all space rather than demolish it.

"Eira!" I blinked in surprise to see, just in the nick of time, Parker tackled me. I feel quickly to the ground and Parker on top of me. I felt my body hit first before my head whipped back on the ground. Thank goodness I wasn't on the steps…

I narrowed my eyes at my best friend. Did he even realize where I was standing just a moment ago? He could have hurt us both by sending us over the edge. Honestly… Parker really doesn't think much before he acts…

"Sorry Eira, but you had me so worried when you left without a word!" Parker was holding me tightly, my forearms in his hands. He was shaking me lightly too, as if trying to get a point across. "I was so scared… that maybe you'd gone after her… that maybe I couldn't help you anymore…"

My eyes quickly softened. _Oh Parker…_ I sighed. He was only looking out for me and I made him worry once more. I was terrible like that. It was a hard habit to break; of course with all the issues going on, he'd be worried if I'd left. I didn't exactly think that through. I just… needed to push myself forward.

"Sorry…"

He pulled me close and hugged me. "It's okay Eira, just… tell me the next time you plan to head off, or leave a note, so the professor doesn't have to track you."

I nodded lightly to him before I looked behind us. I saw that my father had joined us as well, with the professor and Cameron with him as well. All three of them were looking worriedly at me before my father walked over. He held out a hand for me and pulled me to my feet once I'd grabbed it. But it didn't stop there; he pulled me into a hug as well.

"Eira… don't scare me like that…"

I had to consider that my father was still recovering from the hypnosis and coming to terms with Rosalie had him do in the past, and with my mother's death. I wasn't making it any easier on him with my silence until today, and my strange actions to suddenly leave. Like Parker had said once before, I was changing, I was coming back to life, and I can't let things stop me anymore. Sure, my mother's death had been a quite large bump in the road, but now I needed to keep moving. If I looked back again… I'd stop, I know I would.

I slowly nodded in my father's arms. "I'm sorry Papa… I just… I'm still learning… how to talk to others… and communicate…" I hummed lightly against him. "I take advantage of Parker too often for him knowing me so well and the way I think…"

"See, I told you Eira was just fine," Professor Rowan huffed as he looked at the two men I cared most about in my life nearly sobbing over me as they held me close. "Now let the poor girl go, I'm sure she wishes to battle so that she can continue to move forward."

"The gym is this way." Volkner continued on his way back to the building before us and made his way inside. The man hardly looked back at us and Parker only rubbed the back of his head nervously as he watched them.

"Sorry about Volkner… he's kinda… separated from others. He doesn't really like people and battling much since he's had a long string of people who haven't beaten him, so it makes battling boring to him. He's pretty cool if he sees how strong you are, and I bet he'll really be fired up when you fight him Eira."

I slowly nodded to him before I followed after the gym leader to another room. Once we were there, I saw him already in a battle box, it seemed he handed off his groceries to a pokemon which ran off to the kitchen. From what I could tell quick glance, it seemed like a pikachu, an electric type. However, I was already aware of that before I stepped food inside of here.

"So it will be a four on four match, however, if your strong like they say you are, hopefully I'll need to use more than one." Volkner sighed before he pulled out a pokeball. "Look, I know they've said a lot of things on the news, internet and so on, but that doesn't mean a thing to me. I haven't battled you yet, so until I see you strength against mine, I don't know anything. If you're really that strong, beat me."

I narrowed my eyes at him. _So that's the way it is… I suppose Parker was right, this man has faced too many victories and it's truly made him into something that I doubt anyone likes. He seems… distanced because of all of this. Had it truly been that many battles?_

But the proof before me was all I needed. It didn't surprise me at all.

"Let's get this over with Jolteon." I wasn't surprised to see the electric type come out of the field that was another evolved form of an eevee, just like the two that Cameron had.

"I will prove you wrong." I narrowed my eyes at him. He blinked at me before crossing his arms.

He gestured to the ground before us. "Prove it then."

"Shadow." My pokeball opened on its own and the large legendary beast of the Distorted World came onto the field. Volkner blinks before his eyes widen as he looks up at the pokemon of mine. His pokemon slowly backed up before rushing to hide behind him at the sheer size of my pokemon.

"Jolten, it's just large!" Volkner turned back to his pokemon. "You can take it."

"Are you so sure?" The two of them looked at me before I turned my head to Shadow. "Disappear."

My pokemon instantly was covered in a black fog before she faded from everyone's site entirely. The opposing pokemon cried out before it jumped onto Folkner's shoulders. He seemed surprised a bit as well before turning back to me a scowl on his face.

"I have no desire to face someone who doesn't wish to fight back, so please send out another pokemon that will battle me, or this will be a badge to easily earned."

"Very well." Volkner returned his pokemon before he threw out another one. "Go raichu, use double team and find that pokemon."

"Rai!" The pokemon appeared and instantly vanished before rushing around and its image being left behind. I watched the pokemon carefully before shaking my head.

"Hopefully you'll treat me a bit more seriously after this." I smiled before looking out to the field where Shadow hid. "Shadow force."

My pokemon cried out and it shook the battlefield that forced the electric type to stop its attack which showed it to be on the left side of the field. It looked up fearful as a large shadow appeared on the floor and floated around the room on the walls before rushing toward the raichu. The pokemon tried to escape, but my pokemon launched out of the shadows and its body slammed into the smaller one, ripping up the dirt and destroying a wall.

Finally I saw a look of shock cross Volkner's face as he looked back and forth between the destruction and myself. His eyes narrowed at me, like I finally started a fire inside him that I'd been hoping for since before I'd met him.

"So this is what you're like." He snorted before returning his fallen pokemon. It fainted after the attack that startled it so much and hit head on. "It's been a while since I've had to use more than my first two pokemon. Can you handle this one? If you can, I can honestly say I'd be fired up."

I blinked at him. "I've been ready, in case you haven't noticed."

"So it seems." What I thought could have been a ghost of a smile graced his face before I saw that he threw out another pokemon. "Luxray, take her pokemon down!"

"Lux!" I was surprised to see a male version of my very own pokemon. Elecky watched, shocked to see another pokemon that was just like her. _So it was a luxray… if that's the case, I have an idea of what it can do, after working all this time with Elecky. Even if the two are different genders and were raised by different trainers, that still give me a chance to know what it can use since I've raised a pokemom just like it. I have an idea of how fast it can move, I have an idea of the types of moves it can know outside of its normal move set, such as ice fang, which would hurt Shadow, or crunch._

 _I'd have to be careful…_

"Start out with crunch!" Volkner's pokemon made its way across the field nearly as fast as I could blink. Shadow was prepared and moved out of the way before I could say a word, becoming a shadow and fading into the ground. With my pokemon gone from view, Volkner's was able to halt and look around for my pokemon.

"It seems that you pokemon likes to hide quite often." Volkner seemed to sneer at me. "I hope this isn't the way you normally battle, like a coward."

The comment caught me off guard. I was surprised to hear such words come out of a gym leader's mouth. But what infuriated me the most was how he insulted my pokemon, calling them cowards. If anyone was the coward, that was me, not my pokemon. They taught me many things in order to slowly bring me out of my shell and become the true person I was meant to me.

"Don't call my pokemon that." While my face kept cool, my eyes noted all that Volkner needed to know how enraged I was with his comment. "Shadow, use earth power."

My dragon rose from the ground a short way from before Volkner's pokemon that matched my own. Shadow screeched out before the ground below our feet began to break and crumble under her power. Volkner seemed to be shocked, his eyes wide and the ground split before him and his power jumped and ran to hide from the attack.

Shadow cried out once more and light began to emerge from the cracks below. Blasts of energy shot up into the air along with broken stone and ground that slammed into the body of the luxray. It screamed out as it was hurled before falling into the cracks and its body being crushed. I could see the pokemon scrambling to try and pull itself out, but when it couldn't, I gave the signal to my pokemon to let it go.

Only a single paw and its head was still useable on the pokemon. The attack had mangled its body and twisted its form beyond what it should be. I felt bad for the pokemon and called out Bouncy to help heal it.

"Bouncy, use healing wish on Volkner's pokemon." Bouncy went out onto the field and used the said attack causing stars to gently land on the pokemon's head to end its pain from my attack from the lack of trust from its trainer and caution for me.

"Now it all makes sense… I wish I had known this sooner!" Volkner called back his pokemon and apologized to it before stepping up. "Sorry Eira, I only said that to get a reaction out of you. Most trainers that come through my doors aren't strong, and after winning so many battles, it makes you wonder if anyone can stand up to you anymore." He shook his head. "I know I'm going to lose, in fact, I'm excited to, change of pace. But the next time we battle, I'll be going all out at you with no doubts in my mind." He returned his pokemon only to pull out a worn out pokeball. "But I'm not letting you win my badge without a fight! Go Electivire!"

I was shocked to see one of Vince Vilmos' prized pokemon standing before me on the battlefield. Electricity bounced off the massive yellow beast and reminded me much of Magma.

"Mag!" I was surprised when Magma appeared out of his pokeball and locked eyes with the electric type across the stage. Of course, Shadow had already proved her power and more, but there always seemed to be a rivalry and friendship between the families of magmortar and electivire. A battle of pride was on the line because as soon as the opposing pokemon saw Magma, it was the two of them that would fight, no matter what.

"Come back Shadow, we'll get you more battles in the Victory Road and in the Pokѐmon League." My legendary pokemon pouted, but agreed before she came back to my side to stand by me with my team while we watched Magma stomp out to the middle of the field. He and the electivire were at a stare off at the moment while heat seemed to travel through the room at an alarming rate. Electricity trailed off of the electivire's body while steam came off of Magma's.

"Magma," my fire type looked back at me. "You don't need to hold back in this battle. Fight to your heart's content."

This made my fire type grin with a malice I knew he was only capable of bringing to the surface in a real fight, and a powerful one at that, or if something happened to us. The heat coming off of his body intensified that made Volkner flinch before we watched the ground melt at Magma's feet. It became liquefied and circled around him, turning to lava. The heat was so intense that I had to stand back a bit for Paladin's sake to keep him from getting to warm. I knew he was a tough breed of pokemon, but he wasn't ready for facing much of this yet.

"Ra! Ra!" Regardless of what I tried to do, the little baby pokemon cheered on his older brother on the battlefield. Paladin tried to crawl out of my arms, but after dealing with Bouncy during her pervious evolution, I knew how to handle young, small pokemon in my arms. I latched my arms down, and Paladin pouted at me as he watched the fight, but his cheering refused to stop.

Not that I expected it to…

In compliance to Magma not holding back, the electivire replied in the same way with electricity bouncing off its body in powerful waves. I saw bolts shoot out of its fur and hit the lights, causing them to spark and explode. My friends and family dived behind the stands where they watched to hide from the shattered glass coming onto them.

"Magma, fire punch!"

"Electivire, thunder punch!"

The two pokemon launched themselves forward and their fists slammed into each other before causing the attacks to blast in both directions. Thunder sparked in huge ways and charred the walls white the fire that leapt off of Magma was white as it melted more of the ground. I knew it wouldn't bother Magma, but it would certainly bother the other pokemon if the ground liquefied enough.

"Psychic!" My race to cry out an attack in the middle of the stalemate was heard and Magma's eyes turned purple. I taught him other moves to cover for other weaknesses, such as quick fighting types or powerful poison types, since either could hurt us. But also having a psychic type move on hand was helpful against physical hitters to knock them off their feet and follow up with another attack.

The electivire roared out in pain and was pushed back just enough to give Magma some room for another attack. The electric pokemon held its head in pain while Magma waited for the next order. Volkner watched as his powerful pokemon was quickly reduced with an unseen attack hanging over its head.

"Now! Focus punch!" My voice reached Magma quickly enough and I saw his fist light up in white light as he switched his attacks, cutting off the mind attack while he focused on the physical one. Electivire was able to get its foot back just in time for Magma's fist to make contact with its face. The pokemon grunted as it was thrown back, however, I saw this was not anywhere near done…

"Now it's our turned Eira." Volkner had a vicious look to his eye and I was surprised to see it, however, it was better than the annoyed one he wore on his face before he took me seriously. "Giga impact!"

I gasped as I saw the pokemon slam into my pokemon after it had fallen. The wounds it gathered from Magma seemed to be nearly non-existent. I watched the body of the electivire crashed into Magma, coated in a white light, before they both crashed through the melting ground behind them. I could hear them both crying out from the attack or the landscape.

Both pokemon rushed apart from each other only to show the evidence of the severe battle. Magma was wounded all over his body and he was supporting one of his arms that hung limply at his side. It looked painful to the eye, I could only assume that the electivire had hit Magma's arm first.

However, the electric pokemon seemed to fare no better. From the melted ground, I could see the burn marks all over its body and the patches of fur missing. Even its skin under the fur seemed to be burned and scarred. It seemed to be suffering from the lower half of its body that was burned mostly from the lava like ground.

Both of them were in extreme pain and wouldn't last much more the a few powerful attacks.

"Electivire…" Volkner looked at his pokemon in shock. "I can't remember the last time you were this wounded… they're strong… aren't they?"

His electric pokemon nodded to him on the field while Magma could only grin at the thrill. It wasn't often when someone could hurt him like today and that could survive his attacks.

"You're enjoying yourself Magma…" I could only smile at him while the flames still continued to fume off his body.

"Is your pokemon this much of a monster fighter?" Volkner seemed so surprised that it actually made me laugh. My entire team was behind me and their stoic looks and posture were all that needed to tell him the truth. All of them were. They didn't give up until the last move was used up or their achievement made.

I smiled to the gym leader before I looked to my pokemon on the field. "Magma, I believe it's time we finished this up. We still have so much to do on our journey." My fire time nodded and the heat radiated off his body in great amounts before it turned to fire itself, not longer could my pokemon contain his excitement. "Finish this with fire blast!"

"Electivire!" Volkner seemed to get serious as I saw it in his eyes and heard it in his voice. "Use thunder!"

Our two pokemon rushed forward with the attacks at hand. I could see the glow in Magma's eyes as the fire around him and his attack were entirely white, a white fire. He couldn't get much hotter than that even if he wanted to.

However, the opposing side was just as motivated. Electricity wrapped around the electivire like a glove on a hand. It bounced all over the room as the two lumbering pokemon ran with what little ability they had in their bodies left toward each other for the final attack.

What wasn't expected, however, was that Magma's fist came slamming first only a short distance from the electric type and exploded with the attack so powerful that Volkner had to dive out of the way in fear of getting burned. The entire wall behind the electivire was caught in the attack as well as the pokemon. All of my friends all dived under the stands to avoid the heat. I felt it overwhelming as stood on the opposite field with my team cheering on Magma, the loudest voice being little Paladin.

Magma let the attack go finally and fell down to the ground tired and satisfied. I could see the lingering grin and excitement on him while the other side of the gym had lost the entire wall as well as some trees behind it outside the building on the mountain top.

Volkner looked upon the field in fear as he saw the destruction before he saw the faint outline of his pokemon on the charred ground, burnt black. The pokemon groaned, which showed it was alive, but it was knocked out cold.

We were the winners.

"You did it Eira!" Parker was the first to fly out of the stands and hug me after the battle. My father was quickly right after him with a large grin plastered on his face.

"It's no wonder Team Galactic lost to your Eira, you're just too strong." He looked so proud of me… would mother have been if she was still here? If she had come to terms with everything and accepted who'd I'd become?

"Of course Eira won, the girl is stronger than most people in the world." The professor walked up to us with Cameron shortly behind him, Cleffa in his arms. "Soon the Pokѐmon League will feel the same wrath that you showed here, and I'm excited to see it. One of the elite four members is a bug type member, which I'm sure Magma could dominate, but you may change your mind and use a different pokemon, I'm not exactly sure."

"I'm sure glad I never battled you Eira, I may be alright for a trainer, but you'd take me out in a heartbeat…" Cameron sighed while his baby pokemon pouted at him in his arms, crying out in anger at him. "Oh Cleffa… come on now… I didn't mean that any of you were weak!"

I nodded to all of them, happy to see them here with me before I turned to the footsteps I heard walking in my direction. Volkner stood there with a much more pleased look to his face.

"It felt good to lose, and by so much… it was you who didn't _have_ to change your pokemon, but did it for the sake of them. I like that. I would have been floored by you anyway." Volkner reached into his pocket and pulled out something for me. "Here, you more than deserve this after all the hell I gave you."

Volkner handed me my final badge and my eyes widened when I saw it. It was a lighthouse in shape, using the silver color as well as gold to outline it. I had my final badge, which meant that I could face the Pokѐmon League…

"That badge is called the beacon badge, and it's the final one you need before facing the Pokѐmon League." He held out a hand for me to shake. "Congratulations."

"Thank you…" I gently released an arm from around Paladin to shake his hand. It was warm, but I'm sure we all were after the intense battle. When we pulled out hands away, Volkner looked pleased.

"No matter what happens at the Pokѐmon League, can I ask a small favor?" I blinked at him in question. "Would you be willing to come back every now and then and knock me down a peg? Not many trainers get by me in general, but it felt really good to be thrown around and swept under the rug by your team."

"I'm sure Magma wouldn't mind it…" We all turned to see my pokemon lumbering toward us with a satisfied grin. I'm sure all of his nerves were still in overdrive from the battle itself. He held out a hand for Volkner, which the man happily accepted, until he got burned and yelped in pain. "Magma… maybe you should cool down and have a nap?"

My fire pokemon nodded and I returned him, quickly feeling his pokeball becoming hot. I set it on the ground to let it cool and him to calm down.

It had been an interesting day, now all we needed was to go back and prepare ourselves for the Pokѐmon League. Parker and I would face it soon enough…

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Okay, finally! We starting to get back on track and I was terrible! I couldn't get this chapter done for a month or two! Not good! You guys are catching up really fast! I hope I can keep up and get a good few chapters done for the next story before we start it!**

 **Anyway, good chapter on that part! I hope I got Volkner's character alright, maybe a bit more over the top. But it's kinda normal for a lot of gym leaders to underestimate Eira because of her personality and looks. But now all the gym leaders are done and we're moving on to the Victory Road and the Pokѐmon League! About time!**

 **So like always everyone let me know what you think! We're getting into the final leg here! Only about six chapter left along with the Q's and A's page at the end! Oh and I bet the ending of this story will really surprise you! We still have those two deaths to think about and things are going to drastically change!**

 **Love you all and see you next week!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	28. I Believe in You

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 28: I Believe in You_

 **Eira's Point of View:**

It had been a short week since I got my final badge in Sunyshore and I'd headed home with my family. After getting my final badge, I wanted to be prepared for the Victory Road that we would soon be going into. While Cameron would be following us because of his research, it would be Parker and I would be facing off against other trainers in the Victory Road.

Parker was quite excited for it as he was eager to battle, especially with me by his side. We did well as a battling pair, however, my pokemon had more of an endurance compared to his team, the only ones matching up with my own with be Snorlax and Torterra. Bouncy still wasn't all that well at enduring most battles, but she still was incredibly fast and nimble, which made up for it. I was less worried once she evolved, but that fear still holds a bit even after all we've done because of what she's been through.

But we'd be fine; I knew we could handle the challenge ahead of us. Bouncy had asked if she could be used for as many battles in the Victory Road as she could. She loved the thrill, now that she was stronger and could handle more and wanted to be more prepared for the Pokѐmon League. I had no problem with that and allowed it, but she had to be aware of when she was tired and tell us.

I was packing plenty of food for the journey, since we weren't sure how long we'd be in there and battling other trainers, since Parker and I wanted as much experience as could before facing the league. The IPHP League was waiting on us to get to face the Pokѐmon League, I knew that. I wasn't planning to disappoint.

My confidence had definitely come a long way since the beginning…

"Eira?" I looked to living room from the kitchen to see my father there, waiting on me. "You just about ready to go sweetheart?"

"Yes… just… finishing up." I grabbed the last few items of food and some things for Paladin while we were in the cave, but there wouldn't need to be much to entertain him. He loved playing with his siblings and for me to hold and smother him. He liked attention… I picked up the young riolu and carried him in my arms as I moved to my father's side near the front door.

"Now let's get you out there." He ruffled my hair a bit from over my hat. "Show 'em that you're the boss out there Eira."

"I will." I nodded to him and easily slipped out the door to where Parker and Cameron were waiting for me…

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Soon we touched down at the entrance to the Victory Road. The professor and my father would head on head of us and wait on the other side and prepare rooms for us while we get in last minute training and make our way through the Victory Road. It was a requirement for any trainers to face the Pokѐmon League in order to prove themselves. It was what everyone had to do in the past, and that made no difference now.

We stood at the top of a waterfall that led into a cavern. Upon looking further, I could barely see the path that headed inside, but was soon shrouded by darkness. I'm sure we would adjust to it soon enough.

I saw the entrance building next to the cave where we would get permission to travel in the caves. We would prove our worthy with our badges and then pledge to take Cameron with us and protect him as a researcher. He has his credentials from Professor Rowan. We would head their first after biding the professor and my father good-bye.

"So it may be a while before we see you guys." My father patted my head and pulled Parker into a headlock, though loose enough so that he wouldn't choke. "Battle strong, work as hard as you can."

"I also expect some finding from within the cave Cameron, don't disappoint me." The professor was harsh on Cameron, but there was a smile under his mustache. Even if Cameron couldn't find anything, that was alright.

"We will Cyrus! Professor!" Parker got out of the hold before he turned to pull me. "Let's go Eira! Cam!"

"We're coming you idiot!" Cameron growled a bit as he was left behind in Parker's dust, but with no time at all did he catch up with a cheering Cleffa in his arms.

I turned back to see my father and the professor stepping onto Joker who would take them the rest of the way to the Pokѐmon League where they would wait for us. I saw Honey was on his back already, and she smiled at me, a warm smile that I felt like I could see my mother in…

"We got all of our badges!" My head turned to where Parker pulled us inside the nearly vacant building. Volkner had not been kidding when he said that he beat most of his opponents, which meant not many people were here. I only saw another one or two, who seemed to be tired from the journey, most likely not having flying pokemon to bring them here.

"Badge cases please." The man before us at a table with a computer and a scanner waited on us. Parker handed over his case and so did I. We were quickly scanned and our cases handed back to us. "Alright, you two are ready to go, be careful though, the slopes are pretty steep in there, so be mindful of your step."

"We will!"

"I'm going with them sir." Cameron stepped up next and handed over his license of sorts that proved he was working with the professor. "I'm professor Rowan's assistant, Cameron Cody, and he's asked me to do some research in the cave. These two have already agreed to protect me, and I have a team of pokemon myself."

Cameron was studied for a moment before his card was taken and looked over. It was scanned as well, much like our cases and badges had been, before it was checked a second time just to be sure.

"Alright Mr. Cody, it looks like you all legal. Do be careful in the caves and don't separate yourself from Mr. Demeet and Miss Helaine."

"Of course." Cameron nodded his head before heading back over to us. Once we were once again together as a group, we walked back over to where we had seen the cave entrance. Its darkness was before us, and the path hidden from the light over our heads.

"Are we ready for this?" Parker asked one last time. "No turning back once we head in."

"We're ready." Cameron nodded and Cleffa cheered in his arms.

The two of them turned to me and I nodded while Paladin excited as well. The rough terrain seemed to be something he wanted to play on, so I'd have to keep a strict eye on him so that he wouldn't get hurt. He was hardly a month old…

"Then let's go!" Parker was the one to walk inside first with Cameron and I coming in behind him second. Soon the light was gone over our heads and instantly blackness surrounded us.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

The caves were much like a maze of sorts, in order to get one way, you had to go another. It was much like a puzzle, and it excited much of my team in order to get as much training as possible while down here. It was also cold, so Paladin and I relied on our jacket quite often while Bouncy also wore one of her scarves. She had on a rich emerald green one today that was soft to the touch, nearly silky smooth, but also provided her quite a bit of warmth around her neck. Since the time I'd bought it for her, she also found a jeweled pin she lined which she put on the scarf so that it would look prettier. She liked a lot of pretty things… I'd have to be careful of my money from now on…

Once we adjusted to the cave's lighting, it was nothing but move forward and battle for Parker and I. Cameron hung back to take extra care with his research of pokemon we ran into, if they were of a special evolution, or if they were even from this region. So far, he'd only found a single pokemon that seemed to be from this region. He'd only been able to actually two thus far, which where floatzel and gabite. Only one of them I was familiar with, the other I'd hardly seen. All I knew about it was that it was a dragon and ground type, but Cameron studied them immensely when we passed by a small group of them fighting against one another in the caves.

However, we did notice that there was quite a bit of water inside the cave as well, which didn't surprise me because of the waterfall that flows just before the small meeting center and the pokemon center were located. It made lots of rivers, lakes and small waterfalls inside the cave itself, which always gave off a faint blue glow to it. Sometimes it helped us with figuring out our location.

Since we arrived in the caves, however, I noticed that there was something different about Parker. He let me battle more often than him and actually was acting more like a back up then a partner. It seemed weird to me since Parker was the most "go-getting" person that I knew. He was always up for a challenge and a fight, so why was he not now?

I think Cameron noticed part of the way through as well, but he seemed a little less bothered about it then I was. He would certain check on Parker, looking in his direction when he wasn't fussing over Cleffa or taking notes, but he seemed just to shrug and move on without much of a second thought. However, even if Cameron did that, if he was bothered even slightly, then that was cause for concern.

We'd made our way deep into the caves. I found that we both traveled up on high cliffs and low to the lakes where we used our water pokemon to travel while Cameron did nothing but take notes and pictures. That boy was too good at his job…

As we surfed on the water, I looked over at Parker and he caught me looking at him. He tilted his head in confusion as if asking me "what's wrong?" I blinked at him, not changing my look before we ended up stopping entirely in the middle of the path. However, before he could get a word out at me, we heard a scream. Our eyes traveled quickly to where we heard it and saw a woman riding on the back of her arcanine while the golbat flew out of everywhere, scaring her.

We hurried up to the girl and soon it became obvious that I knew who she was. It was Marley Bleac. She was a friend of the others I often meet up with and I'd met her a time or two, but never had I found her alone before. Her clothing stood out to me, it was her fancy dress of black and white lace as well as the thick, black leggings and her mountain boots. Her sleeves only went from her wrists to her forearms and her hair was pulled back with a white bow, the hair's black color standing out against her pale skin.

Her blue eyes widened when she saw me and her pokemon quickly moved toward us. "Eira!" She hopped off her pokemon and hugged me tightly. I patted her back lightly while her grip only got tighter. "I was so scared! I got separated from Buck and Mira!"

"There, there…" I continued to pat her back. "Do you want to walk with us? We're heading to the Pokѐmon League."

"Yes, yes!" She cheered before she pulled back. "We were going there to cheer you on when I got separated from them… I don't know where they are…"

"No worries Marley, you can just follow us." Parker grinned and moved over to her. "We help ya through! Eira's training for the Pokѐmon League anyway and Cam's researching the pokemon here. We're his protection detail."

I blinked at Parker when he noticed that he wasn't going to fight in the Pokѐmon League. "You're not… battling?"

Parker turned toward me and looked stunned for a moment before he sighed. "Yeah… I meant to tell you earlier but… I just wasn't sure how."

I blinked at him for a little while and he refused to look at me. "Parker."

Parker then looked back up at me. I didn't look at him with calculating eyes or judgmental manners; I just stood there, neutral, wanting to hear him how. He seemed to have received the message loud and clear because he sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"After everything that happened, I didn't want to put you in a position so soon to battle someone you cared about. Sometimes it makes a difference when you battle someone that you don't know compared to who you do, and with all the suffering, I didn't want that to turn into something that would hurt you. Besides," he grinned at me. "You deserve the title Eira, I've never met someone more amazing then you, strong, brave, cute or otherwise. So… if you want to battle me, then fine, but… I didn't want it to come to that if we both made it to the end or battle here in the caves. I didn't want to force it on you."

And once again was reminded why warmth spread through my chest whenever I was with Parker. Over time, I felt it might have been embarrassment at some point earlier on, or selfishness because I liked to keep him mostly for myself. But now I realized just how wrong I was. It was love… an emotion I'd hardly felt in all my years since I was a child (and most recently a few weeks ago) unless I was by his side and could feel the warmth of his hand in my own, protecting me from all the terrible things that went on in our lives.

I realized it then… I was in love with Parker too… our feelings and caring for each other were mutual…

I smiled at him more before I hurried into his arms. Parker seemed stunned by my display of emotion, but I just rolled it off my shoulders and held him close to me with all the strength I had. I refused to let him go.

"Eira?"

"…Thank you… for everything…"

He rubbed the back of his head and blushed. "You don't need to thank me for this, it's just common sense… even if I normally don't have that…"

I giggled a bit at him and pulled back so he could see my face. Parker must have seen something good because he was smiling too. I felt him pull me close one more time and hug me happily.

"So which way do you guys want to go now?" Cameron questioned as he looked around. "I still want to do a little bit more research… I wish there was more pokemon of our region or that evolve specially here…"

"Don't steelix evolve from onix with steel coat?" Marley questioned him.

"Yeah, but the professor and I already have quite a bit of data on that, we'd need more of the metal coat to research rather than the pokemon." Cameron sighed. "They're just tougher pokemon, which trainers need rather than me. I already got all the information I could out of floatzel and gabite, especially since Parker has one of those two pokemon."

"Trainers will have others Cameron…" I said softly to him before pointing down another tunnel. "Shall we?"

"Yeah, we've been here pretty long." Parker groaned. "You're dad's gonna get worried if we don't hurry it up."

"We'll be fine… he understands that I'm training." I reached for Parker's hand and pulled him along; missing the wide eyed look he had given me.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

More hours passed as well as trainer battles. Bouncy was doing everything that she could in order to get all the training she could for the Pokémon League when we would enter it. She was the only one of my pokemon that I was worried for since I only had five pokemon that I could use. Paladin, while I would carry him with me, has not experienced battles yet and I didn't want to put him through that.

"Lu!" Bouncy jumped from wall to wall before she slammed her body into the opposing pokemon across from us. The trainer bit the inside of his lip before retuning his pokemon, defeated. He tossed some money my way for winning the battle and took off to lick his wounds.

"Good job Bouncy…" I smiled up at her. "You're getting faster…"

"Lu!" She nuzzled her head against mine and Paladin while hugging us to her. My little baby pokemon giggled in my arms before Bouncy set us down and wanted to be carried by Bouncy. She looked at me in question before I handed him over. The lopunny held him close while he pulled a bit at her fluffy fur and giggled.

"Seems like Paladin found another toy," Cameron mentioned while Cleffa grabbed his hat quickly. "Cleffa!"

"Cleff!" She jumped from his arms and hurried over to me, asking to come up. I released one of my arms around Paladin and she jumped, both of the two young pokemon in my arms.

"You two are so cute!" Marley came up next to me nuzzled the both of them. "You're so lucky Eira! Riley and Lucario can't wait to meet Paladin! He's so sweet!"

"He is…" I happily looked down at my pokemon that I'd taken in for the pair of Riley and Lucario. Paladin had done well since he'd hatched in Snowpoint. He was much livelier, but he still needed his naps.

A rumbling alerted us to a powerful person in the area, and I stepped backward with Bouncy and Parker next to me in case anything happened. The wall shattered only a few feet in front of us before voices trailed from it.

"Damn it!" A young male voice shouted. "Where the hell did she go?!"

"Buck! Shouting and destroying things isn't going to help us find Marley faster!"

I remembered those voices.

"Buck? Mira?" I called out and other then the settling dust, not a sound was heard.

"Eira?!" Two heads popped through the hole before a pokemon followed behind them, looking like claydol. Mira I recognized easily enough and Buck shortly after her. He was a loud kid, much like Parker was. He had spiky red hair that he held back in a tail, but it also spiked up. Just above his forehead was a splash of yellow coloring. His clothes were of a red shirt with a black flame pattern on the lower half of it. He had simple grey shorts and black and red shoes. His rich dark red eyes glanced at us before they came running out of the hole the pokemon following after them.

"Eira!" Both of them hugged me before I saw the two of them looking at me excitedly.

"We were on our way to cheer for you, but we lost Marley!" Mira looked at me worriedly. "Have you seen her?"

"Mira! Buck!" from behind us shouted Marley as she rushed over to see them.

"Marley!" The two girls happily hugged each other while Buck scowled.

"Where the hell have you been?" He threw his arms up in the air. "We've been looking everywhere for you! I told you to pay attention and watch where you were going!"

"Sorry!" Marley shied back from Buck's attitude. "I found Eira a while back and traveled with her, Parker and Cameron. They were going to help me to the exit to find you guys!"

"At least you're safe!" Mira hugged her again. "Be careful next time Marley! This place is still dangerous!"

"Woah! Is that Paladin?" The entire conversation shifted when Buck noticed the baby riolu in my arms. Paladin scowled at him. "Sure looks like Lucario's kid, sure has her signature scowl."

"Don't antagonize him Buck." I narrowed my eyes at him and Buck nervously backed off.

"Sorry Eira…"

"Ra!" I think we were all surprised with what happened next. Paladin jumped out of my arms, marched over to Buck, picked him up but his foot, and threw him into the wall.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Buck screamed as he landed himself wedged deep into the wall with no hope of escaping from the way that Paladin had placed him. My little baby pokemon smiled up at his work proudly before turning to me and pointing.

"Ra, ra!" I smiled and picked him up while looking over at Buck.

"Yes, you did put that mean person in the wall, good job Paladin…" I held him close and turned away from Buck while he reached out of his hole for help.

"Come on Eira! I'm sorry! Help me out!" Buck cried out as he tried to move with the rest of us walking away from him. "Claydol! Help me out!"

The pokemon at his side only looked at him before taking a nap of sorts. Buck cried out in anger but the rest of us refused to listen while we walked off. The entire way out of the area I could hear how sorry Buck was for insulting Paladin.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It was another couple of hours before we made some more progress. Trainers were scarce, so it made it hard to train, but that makes sense if Volkner never had people who could battle him on equal terms or beat him. The trainers, what few of them there were, were helpful for me preparing for the Pokѐmon League.

Buck had joined us at some point. He must have called out another pokemon to release him from the wall that Paladin wedged him into. My young pokemon still angrily glared at Buck, not that I could ever blame him for that. Buck apologized over and over again, but it was a while before I forgave him, especially with Paladin still furious with him.

When we made another turn further in the cave, I was surprised when I saw light coming from it. It made me move a little faster than the others and I hurried to see if it was actually an exit. When I was closer and the light only got bigger I giggled when I saw the light. Paladin had to shield his eyes while Bouncy seemed happy to have a break and rest. She had been the only one to train the entire time, wanting to prepare for the Pokѐmon League.

"Light!" Parker yellowed before he hurried past me to where the exit was. "Eira! We found it!"

I smiled at him while the others quickly hurried past me to see the entrance to the Pokѐmon League. I soon joined everyone at the entrance before I saw the many buildings of people who lived here as well as worked for the Pokѐmon League.

"Eira!" I saw my father and the professor as well as Cheryl and Riley together with them. "You made it!"

I was smothered soon by my family and friends that all cared about myself and one another. It was so strange to have so many people who I loved and cherished in one location where it had been only my mother, Cordelia and Parker for many years now. It was so heartwarming to see, it made my chest swell with warmth.

"Eira."

I turned my head and saw Riley approach me. Next to him was his partner, Lucario. She looked with wide eyes at the pokemon that was in my arms that was her son. Paladin looked at her too, but with more curiosity.

"Riley, Lucario." I smiled at them before I readjusted Paladin in my arms so he could see them. "Paladin, this is Riley and Lucario, they're very special friends of ours."

"Ra!" Paladin grinned and it didn't take much for the mother to become emotional at seeing her child. I neglected to tell Paladin that Lucario was his mother right away because I didn't want to confuse him while he was still so young. But he should know her and be close to her.

"He looks wonderful, you've done and incredible job Eira." Riley rubbed the top of Paladin's head and he batted away at the hands gently. Paladin was starting to get a handle on who to be gentle with and who not to. He was starting to figure out who was human and who was pokemon.

"Car…" Lucario held out her paws for him and I nodded quickly, handing the young pokemon over.

"Be nice for Lucario, okay Paladin?" He nodded and jumped into his mother's arms, clearly unaware of how happy he was making her before he grinned up at the female lucario.

"Ra!"

"And now all you have left is the Pokѐmon League." Riley mentioned as he looked up to the tall building in the back.

I nodded as I looked up at it as well. "Violet is waiting… this is something I have to do… to go after Rose and Razi…"

Riley looked and me worriedly, but nodded none the less. "If it's something you have to do, do with everything you have Eira."

I never had to look at him, but I nodded none the less. "I know I do, and I will. I have everyone believing in me… and now… I'm starting to believe in myself…" I glanced at him with a smile. "I know I can do it, I not the same as before."

"No, no you're not." He ruffled my hair. "You've changed for the better kid."

 **Witch's Note:**

 **I am so sorry you guys! I could have sworn I updated this chapter last week, so its my fault that this is a week late, but you guys will get lucky and get this chapter and the next one all in the same twenty-four hours! I'll have the next one up as soon as I can!**

 **But Lucario and Paladin finally meet! I'm so happy for them, and now it's time for one of the longest chapters ever! I'm so excited!**

 **Now I better rush and do that! I gotta get it done so you guys can see some of the character deaths that are coming up, since there are still two more! I can't wait for them to happen and see your reactions to them!**

 **Love you all and see you next week! Gotta run! But don't forget to Review and Send in Questions!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	29. New Champion of Sinnoh

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter_ _29: New Champion of Sinnoh_

 **Eira's Point of View:**

When I woke up the next morning, I was surprised to see that all of my pokemon were already up and gone from the room, minus Paladin and Cleffa who were in the room with me. They played on the other bed quietly while I sat up.  
"It must be time..." I may have slept in after the event of yesterday. I didn't remember much after greeting everyone and then getting dinner before bed. It had been twilight then; that had already extended since we had arrived into the spring season. Flowers would bloom soon while the snow was melting... but that was normal once we arrived at the month of April.  
Paladin and Cleffa bound for my bed once they saw me up. Paladin jumped into my arms while Cleffa sat in my lap where it was warm. I smiled at the two of them before I began to shift, which they both whined at.  
"I need to get dressed..." I explained to them. "Our team is battling today, and I need to be ready for it." I patted their heads while I moved over and grabbed my clothes at the end of the bed. "Where are the others?"  
I was quickly told that the others were getting food. Parker, my father, and all our teams had left a while back while I continued to sleep. I smiled at the two pokemon before I made my way into the bathroom to change and clean up.

It took me little time to get ready and once I was set, I picked up the two baby pokemon and headed down to where the lobby was. I slowly made my way down where I noticed a large eating area where everyone was. Cleffa quickly jumped out of my arms and raced for her father. Cameron sighed when she got to him and picked her up before everyone looked at me. I had a large groups of friends and family at my table hat include my father, Parker, Cameron, Professor Rowan, Cheryl, Mira, Riley, Marley and Buck.  
I was surprised to see that none of the IPHP League was here with us. I liked around for them before sitting down. My pokemon were still gone from sight and that made me worried.  
"Morning Eira," my father greeted me as I sat down next to him and Parker. "You sleep okay?"  
I nodded slowly at him, but worrying for my team got the better of me. Everyone was quiet before Parker jumped from his seat.  
"You're looking for your team Eira?" I nodded at him as well. "Last time I saw them they were with the league, training."

I nodded to my best friend and stood up, only to be grabbed by my father. "You can go find them in a minute, eat first, I don't want you to be starving out on the battlefield today."

I slowly nodded to my father and he handed over some of what he had been eating. It was some chocolate pancakes with whipped cream. It seemed my father's sweet tooth had risen to the surface and he was taking advantage of being free of Rose's control. He had many types of food before him to try and to relive that he most likely hadn't had in many years. Rose most likely only gave him enough food to sustain himself.

I quickly ate the food he put out before me before standing up from my seat. I left Paladin with the others so that he could enjoy his meal. He had a wonderful friendship with Cleffa, and I knew it was better to give him some more time with her.

I was surprised when I stepped outside and felt the extreme heat coming from the area before me. I quickly hurried up to an open space before the cave we came out of yesterday to see Magma and a blaziken going head to head with fire attacks, each one hotter then the last. I quickly saw it was Jezebel and her friends from Hoenn that were part of the league helping my pokemon prepare for our battle ahead while it seemed that Aaron and Levy were watching.

"Hey there Eira!" Aria came up to me with her boyfriend at her heels. "Here looking for your pokemon?"

"…It's a bit hard to battle without them…" I smiled at them while they grinned back, pleased with the mood. However, I was surprised to see that certain members weren't here. Violet and Alex especially, but it seemed that the Vilmos siblings and their respected partners weren't here.

"You must be wondering where the others were." I blinked as Jezebel came in and the battling had stopped. "Violet got word on some leads and her mother was being dramatic this morning, so all the Vilmos family is working on calming her down and handling the information we got."

"About Rose?" I questioned.

Jezebel nodded. "Violet's making sure that the leads are real because she knows how much you want to get your hands on Razi, no different then I want to take Rose out. If those leads prove to be true, then she'll be leading you toward them. If you can beat your Pokѐmon League in this region, you have nothing to worry about. You've already faced them; I know you'll be okay."

I nodded to her. I would be helping them soon enough. That would make me happy… and I still had to get Razi. I would make him pay for what he and Rose did to my family…

"W-we should give back your team though…" Mattie spoke up from behind Jezebel. "You need to get ready… don't you?"

"I do…" I nodded to him in thanks before I looked over to the five pokemon of mine that would be battling today. I smiled at their eagerness as they returned themselves to their pokeballs and I hurried off to register so that way I could be ready for when the fights started.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

It wasn't long after I gathered my pokemon that I registered myself and received my ticket to show that I was participating today in the matches. I would have to show it to a recipient in every waiting room before the battle would even start. I held it securely in my hand while holding onto Paladin as well. I was given permission to take him with me, so long as he didn't leave further then a couple feet from me or stayed in my arms, which was the more likely thing that would happen.

I had spoken with my friends earlier to find out more about the opponents I would be facing. Buck had been the most helpful being as his older brother was an Elite Four member. I had been told about each of them, the first being a bug type, the second being a ground type, the third being a fire type, the forth being a psychic type, and the champion not having a specific type at all.

As I thought about it more, the decision s for each battle became easier. For the first battle I would be using Magma, his fire would burn though any bug type and still leave him with more energy for another round. Then I would use Bubbly against the ground type trainer, since that would be where she would excel. I would still be able to use her again if needed. I would probably have both Elecky and Bouncy tag team on the fire type trainer since Bouncy would be able to attack with a wide variety of attacks. Then Elecky would have the power to finish through if needed. Finally, I would use Shadow for the last member with her advantage over psychic pokemon as a ghost type. Then the champion might need to be a mix of whatever pokemon I have left after that...

I walked over to where the entrance would be for anyone who battled the Elite Four and I stared at it for the longest time before I moved toward it.

"Eira?" I turned around to look back at my best friend. He smiled at me. "See you on the other side."

I smiled and nodded to him before I made my way to the door. I took a final look at my friends and family waving at me while I held Paladin in my arms before I entered the room.

 _There was no going back now..._

I saw that there were a few people inside waiting on the battle before me. I would have to wait my turn before it would be our chance.

I took a seat and Paladin looked at me with a pout. He wanted to play.

"Okay. We'll play while we wait."

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

" _Eira Helaine!_ " I heard my name be called and I stood up from my seat with Paladin in my arms snuggly. He happily got a chance to play with me and Magma before we would begin. I returned Magma for the time being so that I could show him off when we got to face our first match.

I walked out onto the field and I was surprised to see it was a lush, tropical area that surrounded a battlefield. To keep it looking so nice, however, I noticed a barrier that was protecting it from the battlefield, much like Gardenia had done during my second gym match.

Across the field, I noticed there was a young man there, most likely no older then his late teens or twenties. He had rich, neon green hair with a single piece that stick up against his normally looking smooth head. His skin was pale and rich dark eyes contrasted, most likely a very dark brown or black. His clothes consisted of a black sleeveless vest like shirt with a rust orange 'x' on it while his pants matched the same color. White shoes were on his feet which he used to step up to his trainer box and smile at me.

"Hello Eira, welcome to the Pokѐmon League!" He held out his arms before him in a carefree nature. "My name is Aaron Locust. It's good to meet you at last!"

"You know of me?" I blinked at him.

"Sweetheart, everyone in this region, and soon the whole world knows who you are." He grinned at me. "The girl who took down Team Galactic and fought against Rosalie Agustino and her brother Razi Harper… that's like being a part of the IPHP League." He shook his head. "But you're here now to face off against us, and to prove your worth. I fight with bug types, their nasty and mean, but also beautiful. In my mind, they're perfect. I'm here because I want to be perfect, just like how I see them. So can I take you on?"

I smiled at him and held out Magma's pokeball, already feeling the heat coming off of it. "I wouldn't be here if that wasn't the case." I threw it out and soon Magma's presence filled the room. Aaron's eyes widened when he saw the stoic fire type that stood in the middle of the room. He watched my pokemon letting off steam for a moment before he looked at me.

" _That_ is what I'm fighting?!" Aaron cringed as he felt the heat going up in the room slowly before looking at me. "Damn… that fire type is _hot_."

"You get used to it with Magma around all the time…" I smiled at him sweetly. "So shall we? I never planned to make this battle easy for any of you."

"I never expected an easy one, but I get to find out about all the curve balls before they get to the others." Aaron grinned before pulling out his pokeball. "Let's go Yanmega!"

I soon saw the pokemon that Razi had on his team come out before us and buzz around the room. It was quick from the initial speed I saw, I would give it that, but when pokemon are suddenly forced into hot or cold locations that aren't used to the other extreme, it slows them down considerably. Speed won't matter much if the heat gets to this pokemon.

I watched it for only a moment before I felt Magma slowly warming up the room. I could feel Aaron cringe at the change. I knew he could feel it. I've faced so many battles with Magma now that unless he truly gets too hot, I hardly feet his flames unless they come into contact with my skin directly…

Magma stood there, waiting for an order. He grinned up at his opponent and when I told him he'd get the first battle against a bug trainer, while he was a bit upset in the beginning, when I told him then that he'd fight again in more rounds, he was more then happy. Magma like tough opponents that make him stronger, maybe Aaron would have a pokemon that would work like that, and if not, I knew the champion would.

"Magma," my pokemon looked back at me, ready for any order. "Start out with overheat!"

There was no reason to hold back in this battle. I would not beat around the bush and wait for something to happen to my pokemon. This was the Pokѐmon League. I just needed to make my way to the top.

The pokemon screamed on the other side of the field as small white flames danced all over the field. The pokemon tried to escape them with its speed, but much like I had anticipated, the pokemon was unable to keep up initially because of how much warmer the room was, and it was getting to the pokemon. Little flames burned at it and the pokemon was quickly covered in fire.

"Yanmega!" Aaron called out in horror before his pokemon feel to the ground, unable to produce a single attack, and out of the match. "With a single attack…?"

"Magma is just that strong…" I smiled at him and I knew Aaron was cringing. He had pokemont that were strong, but against a fire type, I could imagine that he had pokemon that had two types that were weak to fire.

This was not going to be a good match for him, and he knew it.

"Return Yanmega, we'll do our best to avenge you." Aaron's pokemon left the field and Magma only stood there waiting for more. He was eager, beyond eager.

"Ra ra!" Paladin cheered in my arms and I smiled down at him.

"That's right; your big brother just won the first round!" I looked over at Magma. "Tell him good luck, Paladin!"

Paladin laughed "Ra!"

"Alright, let's try this again! I will get in an attack!" Aaron clenched his teeth. "Let's go Scizor!"

And there was the pokemon I knew he'd have; the bug and steel type that most advanced bug type trainers liked to keep on hand. I smiled as I saw it, not worried in the slightest.

"Attack with cut Scizor!" The pokemon blindly rushed forward to our end of the field and I simple watched with intrest.

"Take the hit."

"Huh?!" Aaron cried out as his pokemon's attack made contact with Magma's openly exposed body. The pincers touched and instantly they were aflame. The pokemon screeched out and ran over the field. It was actually quite comedic to be honest. I did feel bad in a way. Any pokemon that had a disadvantage to Magma would never fair well against him. It was a harsh reality that most people came to.

Magma was strong; there was no doubt in his abilities. But even against opponents that he didn't do well against, such as ground types and rock types, he still could take them out because his fire was so hot, that it could melt the earth, it could melt rock. And those that fail to take Magma seriously would suffer from the same fate.

It made me feel bad for Aaron. Most of his pokemon were only bug types, so they would catch fire getting to close to my pokemon and easily would fall prey to his attacks without him even trying. Buck had warned me thought that there was a pokemon on his team that he normally saved for the end that once was a bug type, but had evolved out of it which meant that there would be no type advantage for Magma, and he'd have a better fight.

But until then, I still had two or three more pokemon before that.

The flames on the opposing pokemon's claws had spread to its entire body. It wasn't used to such hot fiery attacks like Violet's pokemon was. It had run about the field in hopes of putting it out, but the fire was just too hot, the air around it just made the flames grow bigger, and the never ending heat of the battlefield made the flames just expand more.

The pokemon feel to the ground, defeated after the fire had taken hold. None of Aaron's pokemon seemed to hold up well against my fire type. I'm sure normal fire types were a different story, but this was Magma we're talking about… he's not exactly "normal"…

"I can't attack you, I can't do anything with this heat… how do I fight you?" Aaron cursed at his luck. "Its like a one sided battle…"

"Most of your pokemon would have no chance against Magma due to their types and sensitive bodies against fire. I've only met a handful of pokemon that are bug types and can handle Magma's intense heat." Aaron looked at me with wide eyes. "Magma's fire is even hot enough to melt this ground into lava, you're bug types are not a fitting match against him, and I would rather not hurt anyone unnecessarily. Against any of my other pokemon, this match would be entirely different, but this heat, its Magma's greatest stringent and I knew that coming out onto this field."

"So you're saying that any bug types, unless used to this kind of heat, wouldn't stand a chance…"

"That's correct." I nodded my head lightly. "I do not mean to make any fun of your pokemon, it is simply that Magma's heat, confidence, and stubbornness all wrap up into a single package of intensity. If you wish to have any fair fight of any sort, I believe a pokemon that is not in definition or body a bug type would have at least a shot of fighting against him.

"I see…" Aaron had to think for a moment before he looked back at me. "Eira, I'm shortening our match. Only one of my pokemon may be able to hold their own and I don't want my other bug types to be harmed, is that alright with you? I apologize for the shorter battle."

"It is fine." I nodded to him. "I would rather them not be harmed, which is why I took the time to explain myself to you. Even against opponents that are rock and ground types end up being burned by Magma's fire and defeated, that's just how incredible he is."

"Thank you." Aaron sighed. "One day, if you'll let me fight with you again, I want to face this brute again with my team to get stronger, but for now, Drapion! Let's go!"

I remembered this pokemon well, it gave me a lot of trouble during the Grand Festival in its final days. Bubbly and Magma both had a hard time facing it with its many types of moves, but also its strange type of poison and dark. It once was a bug type before its evolution, but now it just makes it stronger.

It was good that Aaron had this trump card, because now Magma could actually put up some of a fight.

Magma could tell that his opponent was different this time. His grin widened and he took a stance, ready to truly fight. When he saw the purple pokemon, I'm sure he remembered the match against him in the Grand Festival. He was excited, ready to go, and ready to burn.

"Good, now we won't have to hold back." I smiled before holding out an arm that wasn't holding my baby pokemon. "Flamethrower!"

My pokemon quickly held out his arm and flames raced across the field to the other pokemon. I saw Aaron flinch as he watched the intense flames hit his pokemon. His pokemon cried out, but I saw its shadow standing still in the heart of it. The pokemon was still standing after the first attack.

I could feel the malice in the air increase. Magma was getting excited…

The pokemon burst from the flames and roared out before racing across the field at Magma. The two of them clashed, claws against fists. The force of the regular attack from the two of them sent out a surge of power that shook the earth itself and blasted the air around. I could hear other people screaming in the audience in cheers and in shock.

"X-scissor!" Aaron cried out and his pokemon jumped back only to slash at the air and craft a bug type attack of a light green color in the shape of a 'x' that flew at my pokemon. However, since it was a bug type move, all it did melt before it could hit Magma.

"Did you forget the first half of the battle already Aaron?" I asked him skeptically. My eyes narrowed at him while he looked frustrated with himself. His normal moves and plans against other opponents wouldn't work against Magma. Grass and bug type moves couldn't touch him with the intense heat around him. Not only did it act to show off his power, but it also acted as a barrier for those attacks that weren't truly able to reach his body.

"Fine then! Cross poison!" Aaron's next attack that came was a poison one and I cringed a bit at it. While Magma could burn the poison out of his body if it got in, it still wasn't a fun process.

The same style attack came again, but this one was a dark purple in color that was able to hit Magma head on, hitting him square on his upper right chest and that same shoulder and arm. Magma stood for the attack to hit him. He grinned when it landed. I could see the poison still on his body, but that never would be enough to stop my fire type.

Magma's grin sent a worried shiver down Aaron's spine. "Toxic!"

I watched the poison type on the other side of the field begin to summon something from the pits of its stomach. I wasn't truly looking forward to that much poison in my pokemon's body.

"Magma, use fire blast!" I smiled at him with a bit of mischief. "Don't hold back."

I could almost feel the very emotions of my pokemon as he happily was eager to complete my order. He raised both arms just as Aaron's pokemon let loose a violet glowing poison beam at my pokmon. Just before it would hit Magma, he threw his arms forward and white fire blasted out of them from how hot his flame was.

The white fire of the attack expanded and covered most of the field while burning the poison in the air. Aaron watched, stunned by the bright color before he noticed it was getting to close and unable to stop. He dived to the side while his pokemon took the hit of the incredible attack and screeched out. The pokemon suffered under the flames before I saw the body fall in the heart of them.

Aaron decided to look up then at my pokemon, only to see that the poison damage on him had disappeared, which made the Elite Four member stutter in shock. Magma had burned off the poison off his body, the heat protecting him. While the wound wasn't entirely gone, it was mostly gone, which was all that mattered. It was hardly any damage to Magma, and if he wasn't worried about it, then neither was I.

"Drapion is unable to battle!" the referee shouted out. "The winner is Magma and the victor of this match is Eira Helaine!"

The crowd was stunned for only a few moments before I could hear all those who came to cheer me on begin to congratulate me from the stands above. Other soon joined in as the fire settled on the field, the heat slowly leaving the area. Magma relaxed, lumbered over to me and grinned. His body was still hot, but he was cooling off enough that at least he wasn't melting everything this time.

"You did well Magma," I spoke to him softly. "And more battles are waiting up ahead… are you prepared for them?"

"Mag." My fire type nodded before I allowed his pokeball to enlarge in my fingers and return him. The pokeball itself became warm to the touch, but not nearly as scolding this time. I placed his pokeball away before making my way over to Aaron, who was still on the ground near his battle box.

"I can't believe how quickly I lost… but that battle... it was out of this world…" Aaron looked up at me, slowly getting to his feet. "Thank you for showing me how intense fire can really be. I'm heading back to boot camp and we're gonna get stronger, so next time when I face that brute of yours, I can face him head on with no worries for either of us."

I nodded to him. "That sounds wonderful Aaron, I wish you luck."

"And I for you as you move further through." Aaron grinned as he showed me the door behind him. "There are three other members besides me, and all of them stronger then myself."

I showed him a light grin on my face. "That's what we're hoping for."

"Go on head then, Bertha will be waiting for you next." I nodded to him before I saw him turn to his melted battlefield, the barrier had broken some time in the middle of it and all of his palm trees and plants were gone. "Did you really have to destroy my battlefield?"

I smiled nervously at him, not giving him an answer before moving onto the next room behind him.

The door closed behind me and I was left standing in a small waiting room. I saw that there were a couple people ahead of me, but no more then maybe two or three. I calmly sat down in a free spot and Paladin then began jumping in my lap when I had released him.

"Don't make too much noise Paladin; we need to be respectful to other trainers." My young pokemon nodded, but he didn't seem all that pleased with what I said. He pouted for a moment and looked away from me before I began to tickle his sides. He let out a yelp of shock before he laughed and my earlier warning was forgotten as we played.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

" _Eira Helaine!_ " I was quick to stand up from my spot. In the time frame that I'd waited here in the room for my battle, only a small handful of trainers had made it to the same spot that I had past Aaron.

Now it was time to face the ground type user. I walked over to the man who had called my name and he checked my ticket before sending me through to the next room. The one I arrived in next was one that seemed to contain a lot of rough earth and jagged rocks, one of them even looking like a cliff that overlooked the room near the back corner of the room.

I then looked across to see my opponent. My opponent seemed to be that of an older woman. It instantly made me happy since older opponents tended to give me a good run for my money in battle. She had shoulder length silvery hair; some light wrinkles were carved into her smooth features. She wasn't very large, most likely only a bit taller then myself, perhaps the height of my late mother. Her eyes were rich and dark, like that of warm amber. She wore warmer clothes in this room. Was she perhaps cold? She had a thick, white jacket that covered most of her body other then the black skirt and dark grey boots that seemed to sneak out from under it.

"What an adorable child." Her voice was like that of a sweet grandmother. It instantly calmed my feelings, even if only for a moment. "You must, however, have a spin if you've made it past Aaron." She blinked for a moment before she laughed behind her hand. "Oh, I recognize you dear; you're Eira Helaine, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am." I nodded to her.

"Oh splendid!" Her hands wrapped together in front of her and she smiled. "I was wondering when I would have the chance to battle you. I've heard you're quite the opponent."

"People do say that often…" I smiled at the older woman, happy to have someone who seemed pleased to battle me. "I don't plan to go easy on you Ma'am."

"I wouldn't dream of it, and apparently I haven't told you my name yet. So sorry about that dear." Her eyes glowed with a warmth to them that just made my heart melt. I was happy to see such a warm and kind face; it was something I felt as if I'd never seen before… "My name is Bertha Tierra, and I will be your opponent." She almost seemed to jump in her spot, even at her older age. "Its been so long since I've looked forward to a serious battle! Not many get this far, with Volkner keeping most trainers from coming to the Pokémon League and Aaron taking out most of the rest. Sometimes it's nice, however, since I need a nap."

"Shall we begin then?" I questioned her softly from the side of the field I was on.

"Yes, yes, we should. We don't want to keep the crowd waiting, do we?" Bertha smiled before a pokeball was quickly out on the field. "Let's start out with Gliscor!"

I was stunned by the flying creature that was the first pokemon to appear on the field before me. It reminded me of a gligar, and most likely had to be its evolution. Instead of pink coloring the body, it was a rich violet color along with black under its wings attached to its arms. Its sharp teeth were nearly glowing white and its neon yellow eyes were bright against its dark complexion. Rich, blood red color seemed to be on its elbows and abdomen, in between its armor like skin. Its pincers and tail were sharp to the tough.

I pulled out my pokedex to understand it further. _Gliscor, the fang scorp pokemon and the evolved form of gligar. If it succeeds in catching even a faint breeze properly, it can circle the glove without flapping once. Its flight is soundless. It uses its lengthy tail to carry off its prey… then its elongated fangs do the rest. There are no known gliscor in the region._

 _So a flying and ground type… what a strange combination…_ I looked up from the pokedex while Bertha only smiled at me. She seemed to still be calm and kind, but once a battle begins, it can change people.

"Alright then… Bubbly, let's go!"

My starter pokemon was quick to show herself and puff out her chest a bit at her opponent. Once Bertha saw her opponent, I could see the sweet smile turn into a confident smirk. The very fever of the battle was coming about, and both Bertha and myself would fall prey to it.

"You should go first sweetheart," Bertha gestured to me. "I want to see what you're capable of."

"Of course." I nodded to her before looking over at Bubbly.

I will admit that I was slightly concerned in this match due to Bubbly's type. It was true that she had the advantage over them, but she also was somewhat weak against them as well. Bubbly was both that of a water and steel type, water is the advantage over ground, while ground is the advantage over steel.

However, this one I wasn't as worried for. This was a flying and ground type pokemon that Bubbly would be facing. Her ice type moves or water type moves would deal with it easily enough, but Bertha's presence was somewhat off putting… giving me the strange feeling that I should be worried for something she is hiding, most likely a pokemon that will appear later on.

"Bubbly, let's start out with aqua jet!" My pokemon bent her knees before water encircled her body and she shot up into the air. She raced toward the opposing pokemon and in no time was before it.

"Dive." Bertha told the pokemon and it was no longer before us. I watched around the field as it moved at an incredible speed that could nearly matched Bubbly's when in the water. It made me blink.

 _So this pokemon has more speed to it then regular ground types. That's interesting…_ I narrowed my eyes as I kept my eyes on the flying/ground type. I watched it move at incredible speeds over the room with Bubbly chasing after it, however, when I noticed that she couldn't keep up well, I knew it was time to change the pace.

"Bubby, faster." My pokemon grinned and before the other pokemon could even find her in the air, she was in its abdomen, her body coated in a water attack that she had increased to double her speed. The pokemon cried out and it was pushed back, but not far enough. I saw it open its eyes and try to fly once more.

 _So it's going to take more then one hit… good, that makes this battle more interesting…_

I smiled as I watched the pokemon dive once more away from my pokemon with her chasing after it all over the field. Slowly Bubbly was able to gain ground against the other pokemon before she slammed her body into the gliscor once more. It chocked out what air was in its lungs, and before it had the chance to move, Bubbly raced around and slammed into it again before hurling the pokemon into the ground. Once it landed, she dropped before it, waiting for another move. When the pokemon didn't stir, she looked over to see it had been knocked out, swirls had overtaken its eyes.

"Well, well… I see what they say about you is true…" Bertha continued to only smile at me, seeing one of her pokemon so easily defeated didn't seem to bother her. "Its been a long time since someone dominated us so easily, not since our current champion. But show me more deary." Bertha showed me a toothy grin. "I haven't had my fill of the battle yet."

"Then send out your next pokemon please." I liked this older woman; she didn't mind at all that she was loosing the battle, only that she was enjoying it. Even if I felt like I was over powering some of my opponents this way, sometimes it felt really good to do, because I felt like I was helping them become a better trainer by showing them they still could lose to others.

"Very well then, let's go Golem!" Her next pokemon appeared and I was happy to see it was a ground and rock type… I would easily be able to rid of it... "Start off with earthquake!"

"Aqua jet!" Bubbly was into the air before the ground could shake and crack open. I felt the ground beneath me begin to split and I felt one of my pokemon release themselves and yank me back. I gave her a thankful nod before turning back to the battle before me. Bubbly hadn't be hit, using the aqua get in order to avoid the coming earthquake attack, but soon after, she slammed her body into the golem, knocking it off its feet.

"Golem!" Bertha shouted out in shock. I was more then willing to bet on her pokemon's powerful defense to protect it, but I knew better. Against a powerful opponent like my empoleon, defense is nothing if a super effective attack is used against it.

And I had another one up my sleeve.

"Steel wing!" Bubbly raced forward over the jagged ground and jumped over the rock pokemon that was still moving. She slashed her wings at it that glowed a metallic color and the rock type chocked on its own breath as her wings slammed into it. It was thrown back into the ground and hopped a bit before landing at Bertha's feet. She looked on in shock before she saw that her second pokemon was down and out.

"My goodness, I'm impressed." She returned her pokemon and pulled out another. "But I'm curious how you will fair with this one? Go Wishcash!"

My eyes widened when I saw the water and ground type appear on the battlefield. I could only curse my luck that she had a water type on her team. _It must have been that bad feeling I'd had only minutes before hand… it would make sense… that same feeling is back._

I had to think long and hard about the opponent we were up against. Of course I had taken out Bertha's other poekmon with ease, but this one was a water type, meaning half of my attacks would be almost useless for me to use. And ground has the advantage to steel, so it wouldn't be a good idea to use any of my steel attacks, nor flying. That left me with few options, other then some ice type attacks and a secret attack that I'd taught to Bubbly quite a long time ago in case something like this would happen.

 _It seemed it would be time to use that move…_

"Wishcash, use sandstorm!" Bertha's attack rang out and I flinched as wild winds of sand suddenly appeared all over the field. I could feel it like sandpaper against my skin, it hurt. I could only hiss at the pain while I dared look into Bubbly. She was not affected by the sandstorm due to her being a steel type, but that meant nothing about her being able to see well. Bubbly was a pokemon that preferred the colder climate or water, so for her to be in the middle of a sandstorm (even if she wouldn't be hurt by it) she couldn't see her opponent.

But thankfully, I knew a way around that.

"Bubbly, use ice beam on the ground." My ice type screeched at the ground and ice quickly hit the ground. The sand storm scrapped against the ice and quickly pulled small pieces of ice with it. The ice soon melted in the air and attached to the sand, making it heavier and harder to move before falling to the ground. Only a light wind remained. "Now use hail!"

Bubbly cried out before her body suddenly became cold and ice flew off of her, caught by the wind and swirling around in the light wind left over from the sandstorm before it exploded with an icy wind that took over the area. I saw the wishcash flinch at the ice that hit it, since the sandstorm didn't do any damage to either of them before.

The pokemon wasn't exactly happy with its new environment. I could see Bertha thinking heavily on how to deal with the new arena I've placed before her. Could she handle the ice?

"Zen headbutt!" The pokemon sped through the storm and I was shocked when I saw its head coated in a blue lightning of sorts before it slammed into Bubbly's abdomen. My eyes widened as I watched her halt the attack, but she heaved, the pokemon hit her hard enough to force the wind out of her and to cause some of her stomach fluids to come back up.

"Bubbly!" I watched my pokemon on her flippers and knees, trying to get back her breathing. She had difficultly breathing and I cursed at our luck.

We would have to change some things…

"Grass knot!" My pokemon punched the ground and the opposing pokemon before her struggled as its tail was tied down with grass that was able to grow out of the slightly moist ground. Bertha was shocked to see that we knew this kind of a move and I could only smile at her while I had the upper hand. "Now finish it Bubbly! Use blizzard!"

My water type grinned before the air turned cold around her. From her mouth came a powerful blast of ice that froze the wishcash. We waited for a few moments to see if it would break free or could still fight, when it didn't, Bertha sighed and returned her pokemon.

"This is frustrating as much as it is wonderful." Bertha pulled out another pokemon. "I hope you can handle this pokemon. Let's go Hippowdon!"

I was shocked to see a new pokemon I hadn't seen before. It stood on four legs with a large head and body, nearly the same size as each other with short legs. Its back and the end of its snout was a black color while the rest was a yellowish tan color. Its eyes were a rich red color. I watched as sand flowed out of the holes in the black part of its back.

I pulled out my pokedex and pointed it at the strange pokemon. _Hippowdon, the heavy weight pokemon and the evolved form of hippopotas. Its brandishes its gaping mouth in a display of fearsome strength. It raises vast quantities of sand while attacking. It is surprisingly quick to anger. This pokemon can be rarely found on route two-twenty-eight._

 _Its only a ground type…_ I watched the other side of the field as the pokemon seemed to let sand loose from its back in hopes of warming up the room. I smiled, I didn't plan on letting it have its way.

"Sand tomb!" Bertha's attack was quick. Her pokemon glared at us before the sand that was around us started to surround my pokemon at her feet. It swirled around her feet and began to get thicker.

"Bubbly, jump!" My pokemon nodded to me and made to do so, but she soon flinched and held a fin to her abdomen. My eyes widened as I watched her.

 _Did she truly get hurt more then I had anticipated?_

Bubbly couldn't move from her spot. I had to work around that to get her out of there. I thought over the many attacks she knew in my head before I figured out what would work.

"Bubbly! Use whirlpool!" Water suddenly appeared and countered the sand surrounding her and helped her to get free. "Use it over the field!"

My water type forced her attack to spread and soon enough it swept up the pokemon that had tried to attack her. It cried out as the water soaked thought its body, which I'm sure was not normal or comfortable for it. Bubbly's attack continued to spread and soon enough, the pokemon went under the water that flooded the field, but avoided Bertha and I.

After a minute, I saw the pokemon fall out of the attack and Bubbly let it go. She watched it worriedly from my side of the field where she held her abdomen. She seemed to be in incredible pain from the attack she took in the last battle against the wishcash. I would need to tend it later, as well as make sure that she finishes up the last battle quickly… so she doesn't suffer more…

"Truly you are a trainer that will give any of us a run for our money." Bertha caught my attention from the other side of the field. Her pokemon seemed to be unmoving, so she returned it. "I'm happy to have battled you, even if this battle was too short lived… I wish I had been a bit stronger so that it may have lasted longer… but perhaps next time?"

I nodded to her. "I'd like that."

"Then allow me to show you my last pokemon, see if you can face it! Go Rhyperior!"

I was shocked to see a large, bulky pokemon that's body was entirely made of rock, its body mostly of a dark slate color with red colored plates on its chest, shoulders and head. It had two horns on its head, one as a nose and the other just a in or two above on its forehead. Claws were on its hands and legs while a tail was behind it which looked to be made of rock.

I pulled out my pokedex a second time this battle to understand that pokemon more. _Rhyperior, the drill pokemon and the evolved form of rhydon with a protector. It can launch a rock held in its hand like a missile by tightening them expanding muscles instantly. Geodude are shot at rare times. Its carapace can withstand volcanic eruptions. There are no known rhyperior nests in this region._

 _It's a rock and ground type. A water type move, if powerful enough… could take it out in one go…_ It didn't look like a pokmeon with an incredible amount of speed. Taking in the full look of the final pokemon of Bertha's team, it seemed to be more of an endurance pokemon or heavy hitter.

"We need to try and push her back some more Rhyperior!" Bertha called out to her pokemon. "Use rock wreaker!"

The pokemon growled out before I saw it yank large chucks of ground out of the field and hurl them at my pokemon. Bubbly jumped out of the way, but quickly she found that she couldn't escape easily. She evaded the first part of the attack with only inches to spare as she tried to run on the field. The wound she had taken hurt her more then I'm sure she'd like to admit.

"Bubbly, we need to take it out before it really hurts you!" I called out to her, a bit of nervousness in my voice. "Use hydro pump!"

"Em!" Bubbly cried out and sucked in a large breathe before a huge blast of water shot out of her mouth. It shot across the field and hit head on one of the monstrous boulders that the other pokemon was throwing at her. Bubbly's attack shattered the boulder when it lost its momentum and the rest of the water attack shot forward and slammed into the other pokemon. The rhyperior screamed out from the water attack and soon I lost sight of it.

It took only a few minutes before Bubbly let up on her attack. We saw the water slow down and Bubbly raced to try and catch her breath in case the match wasn't over. I dared to look across the field into a crater in the ground that had the pokemon in it, from where he had ripped out earth to throw at us. It must have been tired from its attack, which helped us, but with the attack I had used myself, it would leave us vulnerable for a few minutes if we didn't take it out.

Bertha dared to walk out onto the field. She looked over into the crater to see how her pokemon was only to sigh. I blinked and hurried out as well before myself and the referee came out to see that the pokemon had fallen. Its eyes were in swirls and its body soaked to the bone.

"Rhyperior is unable to battle!" the referee called out. "The winner is Bubbly and the victor is Eira Helaine of Twinleaf!"

The crowd roared out I smiled at the progress we made. I hurried over to my water and steel type and helped her stand up while pulling out a potion for her.

"Hang in there Bubbly, I have a potion for you, and food once we're waiting, okay?" The minute my pokemon heard the mention food, she perked right up, perky and drooling at the thought of food for her.

"Who would have thought you'd be this strong child?" Bertha smiled at me as she met me across the field. She held out her hand for me to shake. "It's wonderful to see young blood like you keeping me thought and strong, even at my age." She gestured behind me. "Go on, the next member is waiting. I imagine your pokemon will enjoy the heat in there."

I smiled at her and I knew I would be facing Buck's older brother Flint. I was excited to face him, especially my next two pokemon…

I wondered how long Bouncy would fair with him…

I moved on into the next room and saw only a single person ahead of me. It seemed it would be quiet from here on out. Once I was out of the pervious room, I sat down Bubbly and pulled out the packed couple of lunches I brought with me. She drooled at the sight and took them from me.

"Go ahead Bubbly, they're both yours."

I didn't need to tell her twice.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

" _Eira Helaine_!" I stood up at the ready when my name was called once more. The single trainer before me had gone ahead only a minute or so prior. Had he truly been beaten so easily?

After showing off my ticket to the guard at the entrance to the next room, I moved through the doorway when it was opened for me. Paladin sat quietly in my arms and Bubbly had been returned to rest a bit after being allowed to eat a couple of meals and get some medicine for her wounds. I already knew who would battle first in the round, and I was excited to see how she would fair…

I arrived on the next field seeing that there was lava that seemed to travel around the edges of it, dug into the ground. Magma would love that kind of a field, so if there was a powerful opponent enough for him, I would happily let him take it on, and I'm sure the girls would allow him to go in their place as well. Bouncy is getting better, but she still worries me and Elecky, while she was an incredible battler, still knew better then to get in Magma's way if there was a powerful fight of a fire type or a pokemon similar in design as himself.

A man that looked similar to Buck stood on the other side of the field. His bright red hair was solid in color that seemed to puff out on his head, like a small afro of sorts. A yellow short sleeved shirt hung closely to his chest while black pants were loosely on his hips. He had on an old pair of sneakers while blank bands were on his wrists.

"Well, and here I thought I'd have to wait a lot longer to meet you, Eira Helaine." The man's eyes glinted with eagerness as he stared at me. "Let me introduce myself, I'm Flint Aideen, Buck's older brother as well as the third member of the Elite Four. I've been hearing bits about you off and on for the last year from my little brother, and I'm sure he's watching us."

We both looked up into the stands to see my group up in the stands and both of us saw Buck watching us intently. Flint grinned and waved up to him while I smiled softly, but Paladin growled in my arms, which caused Buck to pale and sink in his seat.

"Ha! He's afraid of that little guy?" Flint laughed and chocked over. "What stupid thing did he do this time?"

"He insulted Paladin…" I looked down at the baby pokemon in my arms who smiled up at me before looking at Flint and cheering. He was excited for my battle with this man.

"That sounds like Buck!" He hit his leg before he stood up. "But you're here for a battle against me, so now let's see what you got Helaine!" He threw out a pokeball. "Let's go Flareon!"

I saw a fire evolution of an eevee appear on the field and I was happy to see it didn't seem like an over the top fighter like Violet's umberon normally was. It made me feel better about what I had planned so that all of my pokemon had a shot.

"Let's go then Bouncy!" My normal type came out and she hopped from one foot to the next before she looked at the opposing pokemon. What shocked me the most was just how strong Bouncy seemed to be as she stood out there on that field. I wasn't expecting that, and it made me… feel more confident in her.

But it would help if I got over my fear of her getting hurt… but it was just so hard to let that go since I met her all that time ago.

"So this is the pokemon I get to start with? Looks like I got a good one, its all fried up, like me!" Flint grinned. "So let's start out Flareon! Use flamethrower!"

"Jump!" Bouncy launched herself into the air with her powerful legs until she hit the ceiling before she landed near the flareon. It cried out in shock before it looked at me worriedly. "Use dizzy punch!"

My pokemon hurled her tiny fists into the small pokemon before her and the fire type screamed out in shock. Flint was in shock as he watched his pokemon hurled toward him. The flareon was able to make to its feet after the attack and growled at my pokemon. Bouncy lightly hopped on her feet, ready jump at any moment.

"She's fast, I'll give you that!" Flint chuckled. "Now let's use quick attack!"

"Flare!" The pokemon raced toward us in an instant and Bouncy bent her legs to jump in response.

"Jump kick!" My pokemon launched herself into the air before hitting the ceiling once more before pushing to head back down and slammed her feet into the pokemon. It chocked as Bouncy's foot was in its stomach before the pokemon went flying into the ground. Bouncy bounced backwards before me and bounced lightly again, waiting for more.

We waited a few moments for the pokemon to emerge from where it had fallen. When we saw nothing, Flint sighed and returned his pokemon before pulling out another pokeball.

"And here I thought that you're pokemon would be on more even terms with me, this one's got a fire in her just like the rest." Flint grinned. "But let's see how you fair with this pokemon! Let's go houndoom!"

The four legged dark and fire type pokemon came out and I couldn't help the confused look on my face. Did Flint just forget the move that I'd used on his pokemon beforehand? I stopped his last pokemon with a fighting type move; fighting type has the advantage to dark.

If he was aware of what had just happened (which he should have been, he was an Elite Four member after all) then he had something planned. I had to be careful then…

"Sludge bomb!" I was caught off guard when I heard the name of a poison attack. Bouncy was startled at it too, but she was quick enough to leap out of the way.

"Spread it all over Houndoom!" I watched in shock as the pokemon recklessly spewed the liquid poison all over the room. Some of it landed in the lava that was around the edges and soon I became aware of their plan.

"Bouncy! Don't breathe in the air!" She looked at me for only a moment before jumping again and covering her mouth with her hand before I saw the poison evaporating in the air and a thin purple smoke took over.

I raced to grab my shirt and hold part of it over my mouth to protect myself and Flint did the same. His pokemon could only grin when it watched my pokemon. I turned to look at her and saw that she was heading right toward a large cloud of smoke that was closing in on her.

"Bouncy!" She turned her head only to be lost in the smoke. I watched her try to hold her breath. She quickly crawled down to the ground where some clean air was left as the smoke was over her head and taking over the room. I could see screens come down between the audience we had and ourselves to keep them safe from the poison.

The dark type wasn't phased by the poison, I could only assume because it was used to using the attack combination so often that it had built up immunity, or something along those lines. Dark types weren't immune to poison, but they weren't as susceptible as other types.

"Bouncy! You need to get rid of the poison! Use dig and cover it with dirt!" My normal type nodded to me before she scrapped at the ground and dig herself a hole, throwing dirt around the field to cover the patches of poison that Flint's pokemon had placed.

"There's no way that pokemon of yours is getting out of this no poisioned Eira!" Flint told me before looking to his pokemon. "Get it up into the air! Use crunch and throw it!"

The dark type raced on the field and had caught up with my normal type in only a fraction of time that I thought it would. My pokemon screamed out when its teeth were wrapped around her arm and it chucked her up into the air. She didn't have a moment to remember where she was at that moment.

"Bouncy!" My cry was in vein however, she had already breathed in the poison. I could see it already working as she coughed, trying to get it out when all she was doing was sucking it back in and more along with it.

I felt rage after that. _If this poison hadn't been against us…_ I had never thought that a fire type user would bring poison to the table in their battling. I was quite surprised, but also infuriated. Bouncy had never faced poison before; she had never been poisoned…

But there was nothing I could do about it, it was in her system, all we could do is move forward….

"Boucny!" My pokemon looked at me through the pain of the poison coursing through her veins. "Jump kick!"

Bouncy hit the ceiling from where she was thrown into the air and slammed her feet against it before hurling her legs into the apposing pokemon. The fighting type move was critical against the dark type against us and it was thrown into the apposing wall. The wall shattered and a large hole was made. The poisoned air instantly filtered toward the hole and made its way out to allow clean air in again, which would make it easier on my pokemon.

"In one hit?" Flint stared wide eyed at the spot his pokemon had fallen and where I was. Bouncy landed next to me, but flinched as the poison took over.

I quickly pulled forward my backpack. "Bouncy, go on and come out, I've got some medicine for you."

"Lu!" She shook her head with an incredible vigor before she went back into a fighting stance, lightly bouncing on her feet. She wanted to stay in… just a little longer…

"Bouncy…"

"If that's what she wants, then that's what she's gonna get!" Flint pulled out another pokeball. "Let's go Rapidash!"

A fiery steed like the one Parker had appeared on the field and Bouncy hardly waited for my order to attack. She leapt forward and kicked out hard against the body of the opposing pokemon. It cried out in shock and reared backward before Bouncy jumped back from it to avoid being stomped on.

"Bouncy! Calm down!" She was so desperate to fight as much as she could before she could be no longer able to. The poison would do fast work on her body, and I'd already seen it taking over and shutting down functions of her body. Her jumps weren't nearly as powerful or swift. Her balance was beginning to waver. "We can still win this, but you have to calm down!"

My lopunny was hardly listening to me. She was so focused on winning the battle and getting stronger that she was hardly regarding what her body needed, and how much pain she most likely was in.

I knew the there were only two options then: take her out, or help her win. The answer was easy in my head, because I knew what she and I wanted; for her to get stronger.

"Take that pokemon out Rapidash! Use fire blast!" Flint threw his arm forward as the command was issued. His pokemon replied with a thick blast of fire coming out of its mouth.

"Boucny! Use Bounce!" My normal type flew up into the air when she kicked off the ground. While she was unstable through her upward climb, she slammed her feet into the ceiling before shooting herself back down, becoming a ball in the air and condensing around herself before she hit her body into the other pokemon.

The fire type screeched out before it was pushed down into the ground. Bouncy followed after it, unable to stop herself once she collided with it. Bouncy was quick to move away from the other pokemon, stumbling on the stage and holding her chest. She flinched every time something moved.

"Bouncy!" Ignoring everything around me, I hurried out onto the field just as my pokemon fell. Paladin jumped out of my arms and hurried up on my shoulder just as I reached her. Bouncy landed on me as she slipped into unconsciousness. I ripped over my shoulder my bag and hurried to find the antidote I had. Once it was in my hand, I quickly injected it into her skin. Once it was inside, while it took effect, I hurried to grab a potion as well to heal the wounds she had taken on, most of them had been because of her poisoning.

"She okay?" Flint had hurried out onto the field. I couldn't see his pokemon on the field, so I could only assume that it was okay and had been returned.

I turned back to my pokemon to see the painful look easing on her. Her muscles seemed to relax and the paleness in her fur seemed to change back to a more normal color. Her breathing had evened out and I could only sigh in relief.

"Yes… she's okay…" A collective breath of relief seemed to take over the air in the room from everyone as I returned my beloved pokemon. Once she was safely in my care once more, I returned to my side of the field and felt the power flow through me. With Elecky's ball in my hands was pulsing, I could feel her excitement and she was doing all she could not to spark myself on the outside of the pokeball.

"Then I guess we can continue then." Flint hurried back to his own side. "I got two more powerful pokemon for you to face. You ready?"

"I am." I nodded to him softly before I threw out my other pokemon I'd planned for this battle should Bouncy fall. "Go Elecky."

My electric type appeared and spark flew off her body as soon as she had immerged. Flint grinned when he saw her and showed his own pokeball to me.

"Let's go then Infernape!" I was surprised then to see a pokemon just like Cameron's there before us. The pokemon hopped on its feet while the flames burned on its body and its eyes locked on Elecky.

"He won't win so easily…" I narrowed my eyes at him before I threw out my arm. "Don't hold back Elecky, thunder."

My electric pokemon snarled at the other side of the field. It didn't help that our feelings for our fallen friend were burning inside of us. What we never expected angered us for not thinking of it, and it enraged us.

And Elecky was going to make sure he knew it…

She howled out into the air, her cry startling most people before the spark flew off of her body and bounced off the walls. People cried out in shock from the stands before they the barrier between the battle field and them closed once more, to ensure protection. I was grateful for it, because we would rather not hold back.

The anger gnawed at me. _How could I have been so arrogant to not notice that a dark type could know poison moves?_ It was well known that dark types were crafty, often knowing a wide variety of moves, much like a normal type could, to make up in certain areas where it would be difficult to deal with an opponent. Poison was one of the last things on my mind when I came into this battle, and it infuriated me. I ruined my pokemon's chances of having a good battle and possibly facing Flint's entire team from that one little mistake.

"Now!" My cry startled everyone and lightning took over the stage. I couldn't see anything beyond the blinding light that was before me that the opposing pokemon took head on.

There was no way it would survive that.

I looked to the other side as Elecky's thunder attack slowly seemed to fade. Everyone in the area seemed startled by my rage and that of my pokemon's. We only looked to the other side of the field to see if the pokemon had made it. Some smoke seemed to linger, but it took only a moment for us to be shown that Elecky was the victor. The fire type pokemon was still sprouting electricity off its body and coughed out a puff of smoke. Flint looked at his pokemon worriedly before he turned to look at us. Even with Elecky's heavy breathing going on, she had more then enough electricity stored away to face him. Our faces both mixed with frustration and anger after what happened to Bouncy for our own stupid mistake.

"Arceus…" Flint flinched as he looked back at his pokemon that was badly hurt before he returned it. "Did I piss you off that badly?"

"No… I'm just frustrated at myself." I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "I'm sorry… did I hurt you pokemon more then I intended?"

"I think so…" Flint dropped his pokeball, crying out from the electrical shock he got from it. "Yeow!"

"Sorry…" While I did feel bad for him, I tried to keep the emotions inside of me so Elecky knew I was still in this battle. She continued to spark and soon her breathing came back to her. She was eager for the next pokemon, now that she had gotten out her own frustration at the last one.

"Well, I guess that means I only have one last pokemon left." Flint pulled out the pokeball. "Let me see if I can slow you down at all, go Magmortor!"

I was surprised to see the same pokemon type as Magma appear on the field. Its flames burned and he itself seemed excited to face me.

I normally would exchange any other pokemon out so that Magma could have a taste of facing his own kind, but I had promised this battle to Elecky, I couldn't allow Magma to take that from her. I also needed him to be in top shape for the next battles ahead, no different then Elecky.

"I hope this pokemon can handle a hit from mine, or else this battle won't last long." I blinked at Flint before throwing out an arm. "Elecky, use discharge!"

Lighting rocketed off my pokemon's body and shot in the direction of the opposing pokemon.

"Magmortor, use thunder thunderbolt!" I blinked as the two electric attacks lashed out at each other and matched before stopping the attack. Elecky only growled as she watched the other pokemon smirk, but it wasn't Magma, and that's what infuriated her more. We would need to use different moves to counter it…

"Crunch!" My electric type raced forward and latched her teeth onto the opposing pokemon. The pokemon cried out in pain, swinging around its arm where she had latched onto, but she didn't let go.

"Get her off Magmortor! Turn up the heat!"

And the pokemon did just as Flint asked. Flames erupted on its body and Elecky was forced to let go from the hot flames inside of her mouth. I could see the burns around her jaw and I flinched, looking at the burnt fur.

 _I couldn't get in close… my pokemon would be burnt beyond recognition._ I cursed my luck as I looked across the field. The pokemon opposed to me couldn't be fought head on with the attacks that Elecky knows. She's more of a long distance battler when it comes to this type of pokemon, especially when their body can turn to lava.

The only way to battle this pokemon would be to attack with lightning and pray it doesn't get stopped the next time. It was Elecky's greatest strength to use her electrical attacks, and use her steel and dark type moves in case those don't work. Normally fire types wouldn't be an issue, but having raised a magmortor myself, it explains itself how we have to be careful and can't treat facing this pokemon like any other fire type.

"Elecky, don't hold back and unleash every volt of electricity inside of you!" I shouted out to her and the air seemed to still. "Thunder!"

"Counter it again Magmortor!" Flint called out. "Thunderbolt!"

The arena seemed to darken as lightning seemed to gather off the two pokemon. It continued to grow before jolting off their bodies and I saw Bubbly race out of her pokeball to block the hit from me. I watched from behind her arm as the attacks left their bodies.

Both blasts of electricity hit head on to each of the pokemon. Elecky stood her ground and took in the electricity, it not bothering her in the least and actually energizing her being recharged. The magmortor was hit with the electrical attack and it cried out, taking the hit head on before it was forced to its knees. The pokemon tried to raise its arm to attack my pokemon again, but the electricity seemed to overwhelm the pokemon. I watched it fall to the ground and I could only let out a sigh as I felt the battle end.

"Magmortor is unable to battle! The winner is Elecky and the victor is Eira Helaine from Twinleaf!"

The crowd cheered as the barrier was removed and I dared to look up to the stands to see my friends and family and many other friends cheering me on. I smiled up at them before walking beside Elecky and petting her head. She purred under my hand and grinned at me, happy the battle was over. Bubbly grinned and bumped her fin into Elecky and the two of them started to laugh behind me.

"Well, I guess I lost then…" Flint sighed. "Not that I expected any differently…" He placed a hand on my shoulder. "You did good kid, sorry for poisoning your pokemon, didn't know it was her first time being poisoned."

"Its alright, I'm going to check on her now." I held out my hand for him to shake. "But the next time I face you, I will get you back for that with her. Bouncy will not rest until she's gotten revenge for that."

Flint sweat dropped. "Gottcha…"

Without another word, I walked past him into the next room. I saw that there was no one here and I quickly sat down on the bench and released Paladin from my arms and Bouncy from her pokeball. Bubbly and Elecky helped her to a bench where I could treat her better. She seemed to be more alert now and awake. She smiled at me.

"Lu…"

"Its okay Bouncy… you did wonderful regardless…" I hugged her. "Get some rest, I have to return you all soon. Shadow will go out next for our second to last battle…"

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

"Eira Helaine!" I stood quickly as my name was called. Apparently, the next person I was supposed to be facing had been busy in battle with the champion with training, so he needed some time to prepare his field and heal his pokemon.

I walked out onto the field that the final member of the Elite Four had and I was absolutely stunned at what I was seeing around me. The room was darker then what I would have anticipated, but large, glowing balls of white light that seemed to hover in each corner of the room.

Across from me was a man, possibly about the age of my father. He wore a rich red suit with a black shirt and shoes under it. His hair was a lavender color with just a hunt of blue in it. Sunglasses seemed to cover his eyes, but behind them, I could see kind, darker eyes.

"Welcome Miss Helaine," the man gave me a light bow before he stood up again with a pokeball in his hands. "My name is Lucian Walsh, and I will be your opponent for this match."

I gave him a light smile. "I'm glad… I'm excited for this match… my dragon is eager to face you."

"Ah, so I'm facing your shadow dragon?" The man stood back up and looked at me with those warm eyes of his. "I was wondering who I would face in this match. After watching your pervious matches, I knew it could be any one of your pokemon. I honestly thought that you would save that pokemon for the champion. A creature capable of controlling an entire world, that kind of pokemon could beat all of us easily." He chuckled. "But I imagine most of your team could do that. Even the young one in your arms I've heard is one to be weary of if angered."

"Ra!" Paladin swung his arms in the air, wishing he was down, but didn't attempt at all to leave my arms.

"Hush Paladin, save your voice for cheering in the battle." I tried my best to keep Paladin from saying things that would get him in trouble while he was still young. He wasn't as big or as experienced as the others. He was only a few months old after all.

"Shall we begin then?" Lucian threw out the pokeball he had in his hand with elegance. "Let's go Mr. Mime!"

I saw the psychic type appear on the field and I watched it move around with its hands in the air, as if there was a wall its gloved hands were pressed against.

"Of course, Shadow, let's go." My ghost and dragon type appeared on the field and she grinned as she looked down at the pokemon before it. The Elite Four member's pokemon paled at the very sight of Shadow and that only made her grin wider.

"Come now Mr. Mime, you won't know how you fair unless you try." Lucian softly spoke to his pokemon. "Try an attack on it, like thunderbolt."

But the pokemon was frozen. It seemed to freeze under the gaze of my pokemon. Shadow broke eye contract to look back at me with surprised eyes. I could only shrug at her before we both looked back at the other pokemon. It flinched when our eyes came back to it and I was even more surprised when it ran behind Lucian and hid, looking nervously over his shoulder.

It seemed that I was seeing many types of pokemon here in the Pokѐmon League…

"If you pokemon does not wish to fight, I won't make it." I mentioned to Lucian. "Please don't force them."

"Oh I would never do that my dear, don't fret." Lucian turned to look at his pokemon. "If you do not wish to fight, I won't force you Mr. Mime, I know how scary they look to you."

Lucian was not wrong; the only ones of my pokemon that were cute looking were Bouncy and Paladin. The rest of my pokemon all had hardened, cold, or tough looks to them when first met on the battlefield. I knew that if I was against them that I would be worried to face them.

"Mime…" the pokemon seemed to be apologizing to its trainer. It seemed to be entirely terrified, and if it was, I hated to make it fight. However, I wasn't expecting that sort of a thing while I was here in the Pokѐmon League.

Lucian returned his pokemon. "I apologize for that, Mr. Mime was nervous before battling you when he saw your team on the screen. I believe that seeing such a large opponent and being scared by your other members made him too nervous to fight."

"Shall we move on then?" I blinked at him. "Shadow should have a fair shot at a battle, and your pokemon as well."

"Of course, allow me to show my next pokemon." He threw out a pokeball. "Let's go Espeon!"

I soon saw another evolution of an eevee out of the field before me. The smooth, sleek, lavender colored fur nearly glowed in the light. Its steps on the field looked delicate as it circled around in the same three feet of space, watching my pokeon with calculating eyes.

I wasn't expecting something like that when it came to a pokemon even smaller then the last one I'd seen. While the Mr. Mime apparently seemed to have been nervous beyond belief, that tiny pokemon, barely the size of my legendary pokemon's eyes, was staring her down as if they were the same size and could wrestle with each other on the floor.

"Start out with double team!" Lucian's pokemon quickly seemed to multiply over the field and Shadow looked around the field, trying to find the real one.

"Shadow, find them." My ghost and dragon type pokemon nodded before fading to shadows and sinking into the ground. Lucian watched my pokemon carefully as the large black entity moved throughout the area, just under the feet of all the espeons in the area.

Shadow stopped soon enough. I saw that she had centered in on a single one that was hidden back in a corner. The pokemon hissed as it realized it had been found. Shadow re-materialized hovering over it.

"Quick attack Espeon!" Lucian called out to his pokemon. His pokemon jumped into the air and slammed its head into Shadow's. Shadow let out a startled cry from the power of the small pokemon before she lashed out, flipping her body so that her tail would hit the other pokemon. The espeon jumped out of the way of the tail before running along the edge of the battlefield, using Shadow's large size to avoid getting hit right away.

"If your pokemon won't stay still, I will make them, Lucian." I narrowed my eyes before looking at my pokemon. "Shadow, use ominous wind."

"Gya!" My pokemon cried out as a portal opened below her where souls of the departed began to take over the room. The air turned frigid and it raced toward the opposing pokemon.

"Dig underground and avoid the attack Espeon!" I was surprised when the pokemon dug its way under the top layer of soil that protected her from the attack. Shadow screeched out in anger as the pokemon evaded her once more and she turned back to look at me.

I nodded to my pokemon. "Enough is enough Shadow, use earth power."

Shadow cried out once more before she slammed her tail into the earth. It began to crack open and lava began to appear and soon we head a screech hit our ears. Shadow followed the noise to where he knew the psychic type was buried and lifted some of the earth off of it. Once the dirt was out of the way, we could see the lightly burned and bruised body of the espeon. It glared up at Shadow before it rested its head, unable to battle any longer.

"I'm surprised, Espeon normally last longer then that," Lucian mentioned while returning it. "However, you are no usual opponent."

"I would think not." I smiled at him. "Will you send out your next pokemon? Shadow would like to battle more."

"Of course, I would never deny a pokemon a battle." Lucian pulled out another pokeball and threw it out onto the field. "Shall we Bronzong?"

The pokemon that appeared before me actually stunned me for a moment, looking like an ancient bell of some sort. Its color was a rich, slightly off blue with tints of grey and green in it with markings all over its body. Its eyes were at the bottom of itself, which were a bright red in color. It levitated there in the air and I felt something strange about it… it was more then just a phychic type…

I pulled out my pokedex to learn more about it. _Bronzong, the bronze bell pokemon and the evolved form of bronzor. Ancient people believed that petitioning bronzong for rain was the way to make crops grow. One caused a news sensation when it was dug up at a construiction site after a two-thousand year sleep. Bronzong nests are rare and can only be found within the higher elevations of Mt. Cornet and Turnback Cave._

 _So its also a steel type… and ground moves won't work with levitation going on… so fire and ghost moves, or dark ones, would be the best to use on it… I also had to be careful of its endurance… I've heard that this kind of a pokemon can last a long time normally in battle… but I've also never faced one…_

I narrowed my eyes at the pokemon, thinking how best to go about it. Shadow was eager and ready, not worried in the least, and I knew I had to give her a chance to take the pokemon out for the more powerful fight that would be ahead of us in the next room.

"Alright Shadow, let's start out with shadow claw!"

My pokemon lashed forward with her claws out and hit the pokemon head on, her claws leaving marks in the armor of the opposing pokemon. It cried out and was thrown backward into the wall behind us.

But what worried me was that Lucian only smiled at me. He didn't utter a single world as he let his pokemon pull itself out of the wall with a dark glow around it. Was it going to use a dark type move?

And that's when it hit me… payback.

"Shadow! Use shadow force!"

"Payback Bronzong!"

My pokemon dived into the shadows in the ground and vanished before the other pokemon unleashed a powerful blast of dark energy that that came right towards me. I was yanked to the side by Magma who defended me with his body as the blast flew by us. I watched, stunned at it before I saw movements on the ground. Shadow shot up from behind the pokemon and lashed out at it with a ghost attack, causing the opposing pokemon's attack to halt, but not before the damage had been done.

The room that led back into where Flint had been and where my battle had been before was entirely left open for others to see. Behind a shrivel of rubble that I could see, Flint raised his head to see if everything was over.

"What the hell Lucian?"

"I apologize flint, it seems Miss Helaine's attack was much more powerful then I had anticipated, and Bronzong made it even stronger to try and take out one of her pokemon."

Flint blinked at him. "Did it work?"

"Unfortunately, no."

Flint looked out onto the field and saw that my shadow dragon returned to my side and I stepped out from behind Magma. Bronzong had been defeated in the final seconds of the attack and it lay on the ground, motionless.

 _That would have ended badly if it was any other of my pokemon who couldn't evade like that…_

"I'm impressed," Lucian chuckled. "Not many can take out Bronzong in such a short amount of time. You're quite the young woman Miss Helaine." He turned to look at his fellow member of the Elite Four. "Come and watch Flint, I imagine that all of us will be watching a match with the champion soon anyway."

 _He knew I was going to win?_ I watched the man carefully as his companion made his way through the broken wall and stood behind him slightly. Flint crossed his arms and watched Lucian with a certain type of eyes that I hadn't seen on the older brother of Buck today.

"Shall we continue? I'd like to get you through to the next room and watch the next battle."

I blinked at Lucian. "Do you not wish to battle?"

"Oh no, it's not that at all my dear, but I certainly know when I can't win." Lucian waved his hand in a defensive way. "Much like yourself, about a year or two ago, our champion Cynthia, came here and dominated us all. As much as I'd love to just let you through to face her, this is a formality you see. In order to make it to her, you must beat all of us, and my pokemon have wanted to face you for a long while." He shook his head as he returned his pokemon and pulled out another pokeball. "There's no reason to delay you anymore when we all know the real battle is just ahead of us."

I soon heard more footsteps and I was shocked to see more of the Elite Four members show up, in fact, it was the other two. Aaron and Bertha patted my shoulders before going to stand by their leader before the champion. The soft smile on Bertha's face and the grin on Aaron's gave me the impression that they believed in what Lucian had said.

"Then send out your next pokemon." I softened my features and gave him a soft smile, but my eyes spoke other volumes to him. I saw the same look in his own face as he threw out another pokeball.

"Go Alakazam!"

The pokemon soon emerged from its pokeball and began out in a meditation form. Its eyes were hard as they looked at me, ready for the fight. I smiled at him.

"I hope you know then that I won't waste anymore time. I'm ready to move onto the champion. So Shadow, take that pokemojn out, ominous wind!"

"Gya!" Shadow cried out as she summoned the portal below her that created the wind that carried lost souls within it. The alakazam didn't seem to know what to do as it watched the air of despair move around it.

"Send it away Alakazam! Use focus blast!" Lucian's order to his pokemon hit quick and strong. I saw the alakazam store up energy in its spoons in its hands before a bright white flash went off in the middle of the field. I shielded my own eyes and turned Paladin into my chest to protect him. An explosion went off in the middle of the field, but could still hear the eerie sound of the ominous wind taking effect on the field. I also heard a pokemon cry out and I dared to look around my hand to see what was going on.

The alakazam seemed to be in the heart of my pokemon's attack. From the middle of it, the pokemon had fallen to the ominous wind attack. I could see blast marks on the ground, but it seemed the defensive attic didn't work in protecting the pokemon.

"Enough Shadow," I raised my voice and my pokemon obeyed. "We don't want to hurt the pokemon more then necessary."

"Gya…" My pokemon landed on the ground and watched the four Elite Four members before with eagerness. She wanted to face the final one before we would head off to battle the champion.

"You've really tried my hand Eira, and now you have earned my final pokemon," Lucian pulled out a final pokeball. "Show her our power Gallade!"

Out came the pokemon that looked identical to Jezebel's. It stood at the ready with its blade like arms facing my pokemon. It narrowed its red like eyes.

"Psycho cut!" Lucian's pokemon shot forward and darted at my pokemon slicing like a mad man. My pokemon cried out as she was hit, but her blood colored eyes only seemed irritated more then anything as she was hit. "Now leaf blade!"

I was surprised to see leaves magically appear out of this air that leveitated off of the blade like arms. The pokemon shot forward again to lay some more damage on my pokemon. Shadow was more irritated at this attack since it did more damage then the last. She roared out and shot a claw forward to attack. The pokemon avoided her and ran around her to slice more on her tail. Shadow screeched before her tail hurled itself toward the pokemon.

She missed… and that made her angry…

"Stone edge!" Lucian called another attack and this time rocks flew out of the ground and shot up around my pokemon, quickly closing in and hitting her sides, her face and her wings. Shadow screeched out in pain before she punched at the ground. The pokemon flew backwards to avoid the attack and saw that the ground was entirely uneven and in pieces when she was done.

I'd finally had my fill. It was time to attack.

"Shadow, use shadow force!" My pokemon instantly vanished from sight.

"Don't stand still Gallade!" The pokemon took off running at its trainer's order around the field, no matter how rough it was. Shadow move all around on the stage, gathering the powers of the dark spaces around her. Soon the entire arena turned dark and the pokemon couldn't see where it was going, so it was forced to stop. It looked around fearfully before the shadows formed into a single one before it.

"Gallade!"

But Shadow was faster.

Shadow's entire body slammed into the final pokemon and threw it back into Lucian's wall. Everyone watched as the pokemon fell from the gapping hole that it had been thrown into. When Lucian saw this, he sighed.

I'd won the battle.

"Gallade is unable to battle!" the referee called. "The winner is Shadow and the victory goes to Eira Helaine of Twinleaf!"

The crowd erupted into cheers once the battle was over. Shadow was quick to lean down at coo at me at her win. I rubbed the side of her chin and thanked her for her hard work.

"Now comes the fun part Miss Helaine." I looked back up to see Lucian standing before me with a hand of his to take. "I shall lead you to our champion. She awaits you."

I slowly nodded and returned Shadow to her pokeball. Once she was settled, I took the hand that Lucian held out for me. He effortlessly led me to the doors behind him that led a long pathway before us. Lucian gave me a final look before I nodded to him. He calmly led me down the hallway with the other members behind us.

It was time for me to face the champion…

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Lucian led me down a hallway that seemed endless. I wasn't even sure it there was an ending to it, however, that soon changed when Lucian brought me up to a door. Lucian released my hand there and gave me a light bow.

"The champion awaits."

I nodded to him before the door opened to a very large and spacious battlefield with a dome like shape. We were outside; I could see the setting sun overhead. I must have taken a long while to get through all of my battles to get here. I _had_ started this morning…

In my own corner of the stadium around us I could see the large group of friends and family that were here to support me. I noticed that Parker was right at the front with members of the IPHP League as well as my father. All of them were cheering loudly for me, and I smiled at them before turning to see my opponent.

Across from me stood a woman, Cynthia as I recalled from what Lucian had told me. She was dressed lightly. Her soft blond hair cascaded down her back to her lower back while some of it covered one of her hazel eyes. Black hair pieces were attached to either side of her head as well. Heeled boots were on her feet while long black pants nearly hid them from me. A light grey shirt was on under her long shirt like coat, which swayed around her like a cape. She smiled sweetly at me, much like Lucian had.

"Hello Eira." Her voice was sweet and soft, much like chimes in the summer winds. "My name is Cynthia Caelin, and I am the current champion of the Sinnoh region. I've heard many good things about you, and I'm excited to face a tough opponent here. I haven't had a good battle other then the Elite Four in a long time, so I hope I'm in for a treat today."

"That's the plan." I smiled at her, already holding up my first choice for the battle. "Don't hold back."

"Oh, that was never my intention. I hope you can show me the power of your pokemon." She smiled before throwing out a pokeball. "Let's go Spiritomb!"

I had never seen the pokemon of which she had called out. It was at first, a small stone with a small face carved into it, but soon, a spirit popped out. It was purple and wisp-like in color and shape, with green specks inside of it and the same colored eyes and mouth.

I quickly pulled out my pokedex. _Spiritomb, the forbidden pokemon. It was formed by uniting one-hundred and eight spirits. It has been bound to the odd keystone to keep it from doing any mischief. Spiritomb are quite rare and have been lightly spotted near the Hallowed Tower on route two-hundred and nine._

I took a moment to look at the pokemon date one last time before a feeling of excitement flew threw me. There were no weaknesses to this pokemon. A wise choice for the champion to have, but that didn't mean that a powerful pokemon couldn't take it down.

"Let's go then Magma!" I had promised a good few types to fight against him during this championship match, but I also promised the others a chance to fight too. Bubbly and Elecky may not battle due to their wounds, it will depend on them.

"Champion Jezebel?" I stood up straighter as Cynthia called out for one of the champions. "I've heard you haven't refereed for a match for champion yet, would you like to with ours? I imagine it will be quick as we will both be going all out."

"Hell yeah!" Jezebel leaped over the stands and rushed to the box as fast as she could. Once she was there, she grabbed the two different colored flags in her hands. "Alright, this battle is for the championship! Champion Cynthia Caelin versus Eira Helaine!" Jezebel hurled her arms with the flags. "Begin!"

"Dark pulse!"

"Fire blast!"

The two attacks slammed into each other head on in the middle of the field. We watched them match their power before Magma's fire only got more intense. White fire soon seemed to come out of him and took over the attack over all. The spiritomb was shocked by what had taken place before the blast of fire took over and hit it head on. The pokemon screamed before we saw its shadow fall in the blast of fire.

"Spiritomb…" Cynthia's eyes widened before she almost seemed to glow with excitement. "Now this is a battle I've longer for! Come! Show me more of your strength! Go Roserasde!"

The poison and grass type soon appeared and with no time to spare, I lashed out with the next attack.

"Flamethrower!"

"Sludge bomb!"

I hissed as poison and fire mixed once more, just like it had in my battle with Flint. Poison soon made it into the air and Magma was in the heart of it. His attack still hit Cynthia's pokemon and forced it to fall.

"Even if my pokemon has fallen, yours is poisoned."

"Are you so sure?" The woman blinked at me while I smiled. "I was scared for Bouncy, because she had never been poisoned before, but Magma has, and he knows exactly how to handle poison."

Cynthia's eyes went wide before she looked to my pokemon and watched as he began to bring his body to a high temperature, much more like when he would battle intensely. His body let off white fire off of him and I quickly saw his body lurch up something from his stomach.

Out onto the ground came a pile of poison from his mouth. It had been brought together in a pile of sludge from the inside of his incredibly heated body. With no where to travel to and evaporate, it became a charred sludge in his stomach before coming back up. He grinned as the remains poured from his mouth as he looked at Cynthia.

"So I see…" the champion pouted a bit, but a smile came right to her. "Then let me try a different tactic. Go Togekiss!"

The fairy and flying type appeared before us. It hovered in the air and screeched out, looking down at Magma. He only grinned up at the opposing pokemon before him that could maybe give him a challenge.

"Use thunder punch Magma!"

"Water pulse Togekiss!"

I surprised at the water attack that came racing forward to my fire type. Magma cried out when the water hit him, but his fire burned through the water and evaporated it, but not without the wounds on him.

Magma leapt forward after the water attack and the flying type cried out in shock before being slammed into with a fist of electricity. Magma threw the pokemon into the ground and it broke the ground apart upon the impact. Magma jumped back, hissing at his own wound and rubbing it before looking back upon the fallen pokemon.

"So water does bother your pokemon, but it must be large amounts before it would truly hurt them." Cynthia murmured. "So perhaps this pokemon might be a better one to use against this pokemon? Go Milotic!"

I was surprised to see the water type before me that I knew was quite powerful, and I was finally worried for my fire type.

"Surf!" Water instantly appeared form around in the area before it surrounded my fire type.

"Magma! Keep it back with lava plume!" Fire flew off of my fire type's body and lava soon appeared in the arena. People cried out in shock as the air became steamy as the two attacks clashed. Water quickly overtook the fire and lava and hit Magma head on. I was horrified to see him cry out under the water as his body began to solidify from the water against the lava.

"Magma! Fire blast!"

My fire type somehow as able to hear me under the water and his body lit up like a white light before the water shattered off of him. The fire continued to follow its path and hit the water type head on. It screeched out as its scales burned and soon it fell to the ground, but not before Magma followed after it.

"Magma…" He fell…? Magma fell? Is that even possible?

"I'm surprised I was able to take down your pokemon… but he took down four of mine as well with him." Cynthia sighed under her breathe. "It was well worth the wait. Please, let me face another of your team."

"Okay…" I returned Magma and held his pokeball close to me, thanking him for his hard work before pulling out the next, someone who wanted to battle the final pokemon. "Go Bubbly!"

"Em!" She appeared on the field before narrowing her eyes at Cynthia and her pokeball in hand.

"Let's go Lucario!" I was surprised to see the evolved form of Paladin on the field, but I clenched my fist while I held my baby pokemon. I had only two pokemon left… only two… "Aura sphere!"

"Drill peck!"

A large orb of blue energy appeared before the fighting and steel type pokemon before it was hurled at my pokemon. Bubbly rushed forward into the air and spun around, her beak glowing as she spun as she hit the attack head on. Her drill managed to shatter the energy before it could harm her and she herself slammed her body into the lucario. It cried out in shock before it was hurled away into the stands. People hurried away from the spot before it had crashed. Everyone looked on in shock before turning back to look at the champion.

"My goodness... it's been so long since I've felt like this… I've never felt like this!" Cynthia seemed overjoyed. "My dear, I've never lost once in my life, and the idea of losing… the possibility of losing… it's thrilling! To know that there is someone to reach toward and know I'm not on the top, I'm excited for this day." She smiled at me. "But I'm not done yet, I have one last pokemon, and until you've take him down, I'm still in this battle. Now come Garchomp, crush her pokemon!"

Her final pokemon was revealed, the evolved form of gabite. It was much larger in size and I saw its body had huge sword like arms behind claw like hands. Its colors were darker and it towered over myself and Bubbly, at least by a foot. Its teeth were sharp and looked ready for a bite. It also had a fin on its back that matched up in line with its tail.

I quickly grabbed my pokedex from my pocket. _Garchomp, the mach pokemon and the evolved form of gabite. It is said that when one runs at high speed, its wings create blades of wind that can fell nearby trees. It never allows its prey to escape. There are no known garchomp nests in this region._

 _It was a ground and dragon type…_

"Now let us finish this!" Cynthia threw out her arm. "Garchomp! Use giga impact!"

"Bubbly! Use avalance!"

The dragon pokemon was encased in light before running right at my pokemon. It screamed out while Bubbly summoned an intensive amount of ice above her head and chucked it at the pokemon just before it could hit her. Bubbly managed to not get hit by the attack coming after her and the ice slammed down, entirely covering the opposing pokemon. Bubbly bounced backward, away from the pile of ice, and watched it, ready to attack if necessary. We waited, hovering for what seemed like hours, before it seemed that the pokemon was down.

 _Did we… win…?_

"Garchomp is unable to battle!" Jezebel called out. "The winner is Bubbly and the victor is Eira Helaine!" Jezebel hurried up to my side and held my hand before throwing it into the air with her own. "You have a new champion Sinnoh region! Champion Eira Helaine!"

I was stunned as people flooded from the stands over to us and I was bought into many arms and hugged. I was the champion now… I won…

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

I sighed and smoothed out the edge of my dress. It was a silver color, sweetheart cut, and only came down my knees. It had been a gift from my father to wear for my crowning. I was excited for my crowning.

But there was something I needed to take care of first.

A sudden know came to my door, just as I had asked of earlier. "Eira? You ready?"

"Come in." My soft voice was just loud enough for my best friend to hear and he made his way into the room I was using to get dressed. My pokemon happily lounged around the room while Parker slowly slipped inside.

"Hey Eira, you wanted to talk to me?"

I slowly nodded to him. I took careful notice of his appearance tonight. He was forced to wear some off black dress pants and a button up shirt of white color. He looked really nice, but I knew it wasn't what he normally liked to wear. Still, I liked it and planned whoever dressed him up for this.

"Eira?" Parker took a step close to me. "What's wrong?"

I smiled at him, the familiar blush coming to my cheeks as I remembered just how much I loved this young man who stood before me, after all he'd done and how well he'd treated me.

So I knew he was surprised when I kissed him.

 _ **Eira's Memories:**_

" _Awe…" Parker huffed and crossed his arms, which got him a good thwack on the head by my mother's favorite spoon. She already split it over his head, she was going to loose it at the rate they were going._

" _Oww! Eira! Your mother's abusing me!" Parker howled as my mother leapt after him and continued to hit him. I just giggled at the scene before me while Honey laughed on my lap._

" _Yes! We did it!" I blinked in surprise as my mother and Parker stopped their fight and grinned at me. "We got you to laugh!"_

" _That's the best thing I could ask for today." I saw a tear sneak past my mother's eyes. "Oh Eira, its good to hear you laugh and see a smile on your face, honey."_

 _I nodded to my mother and picked myself up off the chair. Honey wasn't pleased that she lost her warm and soft seat, but she got over it as I made my way over to my mother and hugged her. The woman wasn't much taller then myself, and I still had a bit of growing left to do._

" _Group hug!" Parker jumped in behind me and hugged me as well and I soon felt a warm body against my leg. Honey was wrapping her's down at my feet. I smiled at the three of them and how they made me feel, warm, whole. I loved these feelings…_

 _ **I loved how Parker had always cared about how I felt. If I wasn't happy, Parker did everything in his power to make me feel better… but back then, I never realized just how much he cared about me…**_

 **HalloweenWitchHallowenWitch**

 _I kept laughing as the conversation went on, it was funny talking to this man who I just met, and he was like Violet in a way, but that made things more fun. I was still hesitant about them a bit, but for the most part, I liked them, and they genuinely seemed like they wanted to help._

 _Parker instantly was picking up on my laughter. He turned to see the two of us and smile back at me, but it seemed a bit pained. I could tell by the way the brightness wasn't in his smile like it normally was. He was happy that I was happy, but he wasn't very happy with who I was with. Parker was protective of me; it was only him and I as we grew up for many years. He was the world to me, and he hardly liked sharing._

 _But before this journey, I was okay with that. He was all I needed. Now I craved a bit of learning of new people, talking with them, discovering things about them that I didn't know._

 _ **I never realized then just what jealousy felt like, I'd never felt it before, but I could see it in Parker's eyes, the way he looked at me. He was so… angry that it was someone else who was making me happy at that moment. Did it truly bother him that much that it wasn't him who made me smile?**_

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

 _While the four of them did their own thing, I was within my own thoughts, truly absent of the world as my mind traveled back to where I had lost control in the past and the harm that I had caused to others and how much it scared me._

 _There were three different times that I had lost control and my pokemon had followed the same path with me. The first… when Bouncy was attacked in Eterna Forest. The second… was in the city of Eterna against Jupiter. The third… and worst… was after seeing Cleffa… beaten… I knew that I had every right to have snapped and attacked as I did. I know that the others don't blame me for it and don't think it's my fault._

 _But that doesn't mean it's the same for me… how could I forgive myself for the harm that I've caused others… Should I have even become a trainer?_

 _But then… if I hadn't… what would have happened to the others if I wasn't there to protect them… Bubbly… Elecky… Magma… Bouncy… Cleffa… Cameron… Even Parker…_

 _What was the right thing to do? Quit while I was at this point? I'd already made it so far in my journey, nearly half way and made it into the Grand Festival… I could always drop out… I could stay away…_

 _Or should I keep going? Do I dare test the hands of fate and make sure I'm at their sides and protect them? What about Shadow? I still haven't managed to figure out how I'm exactly tied in together with her and why I can see her other then she "chose me"._

 _What else is there in store for us?_

 _"Eira!"_

 _I lifted my head to see Parker running toward me. His winter clothes covering his body were a thick winter jacket or orange color with his green scarf hanging out of it, whipping behind him and boots on his feet. His hands were shoved in his pockets to keep them warm since he didn't like gloves much._

 _"Hey, I've been looking all over for you." He planted himself next to me and rubbed my back slowly. "What's wrong?"_

 _"Just… thinking…" I lowered my head and I felt him pull me a little closer to him._

 _"About what you did?" he questioned me nervously._

 _I nodded to him._

 _"Eira…" I heard him sigh, but I didn't look at him._

 _"Should… I stop being a trainer?" I felt my friend stiffen and my team all turned to me. Magma released himself to stare at me in shock. "I'd still keep my team… but go home… stop being a trainer… not hurt others… anymore…"_

 _Parker was silent as he took in my words. His grip loosened on me and I dared to look at him. His face looked haunted as he remembered exactly what I went through, seeing me from afar as I destroyed and hurt people, even if they are bad…_

 _"How are you supposed to grow as a person if you don't face your own problems?" I blinked at him before I felt his grip come back and it was harder than before, his hand shook and tears welled up in his eyes, threatening to spill over and burn his cold face._

 _Why was he so worried for me? He's always been worried… but never this worried for what was going on. Was it because I was changing? Was it enough in a good way that he wanted me to keep going? Why was he fighting so hard for me?_

 _"Why do you want me to keep going?"_

 _"Why wouldn't I be concerned about that?" Parker's words hit me hard and made my nearly still heart move for the first time that morning, the numbness fading. "Eira... I know you don't see it, but hear me out. Ever since we started our journey together, you've changed. For the better. And yeah, some bad guys who did stupid things that really hurt you got served. And it scares you. I get that. But you're coming back to life..." He stressed that last word like he had to cling to it. "Eira, I haven't seen you like this since before your dad left. And I've been scared for years that I lost you entirely when you shut down. The real you I know is still deep down inside you and is trying to make her way out. She's hurting, that's why you're so upset. But you can't stop it now... Not to mention... Could you really just stop? What if these bad people hurt others, like your mother?" My eyes widened and he looked at me. "Could you live with yourself if anything happened to her or other innocent people?"  
I shook my head. He was right, with all those points. I shouldn't stop just because I'm scared...  
"Besides," I saw him smile. "You have me. I won't let you go crazy, okay?"  
I nodded to him and curled into his side. He was silent for a bit to let me take all this information in. And it made me smile to know he believed in me that much..._

 _ **Parker… he knew just the right words to make me come back when I thought that I shouldn't be on this journey anymore. He meant the world to me, and it was only him who could turn me back once I was like that.**_

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

 _"That's so cool!" I blinked and turned back to the stands and noticed that Parker was on his feet and eyes were glowing in excitement. "I can't believe he pulled that on Eira! He was really thinking ahead when it came to electric types!"_

 _"But that pokemon would be at a huge disadvantage to you grotle Parker," Cameron reminded him._

 _Parker rushed to glare at him and pout. "So? I bet he knows ice type moves to counteract that too!"_

 _I felt the blood boiling in my veins as I watched him take interest in the gym leader on the opposite side of the field. I could see the man blushing lightly under his mask, but tried to keep a normal face. Annoyance filled my being and I watched my pokemon look back to me worriedly as she looked at Parker as well. At his energy and excitement she shook her head._

 _"Parker?" My two cheerleaders in the stands turned toward me and flinched when they saw my un-amused face. "Please keep you loud thoughts to yourself until this battle is over with, your shouting is bothering me."_

 _Wake seemed pretty startled by the darkness in my voice as I spoke back to Parker. Maybe in my own way I was jealous too if he took too much interest in another. Sure it was nothing more than an interest in the burly man's fighting style and strategies to compare to my own, however, much like Parker wasn't too pleased about myself talking happily with Vincent Vilmos when we met in Hearthrome._

 _My best friend seemed to instantly quiet down and plop down; mostly with disappointment written on his face with a pout and a glance he continually gave me. I rolled my eyes lightly at his playful behavior before looking back to my opponent._

 _ **Okay… so it might be possible that I could get jealous as well of him being happy with another…**_

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

 _The air paused for a moment and it was then that I noticed something taking form in his eyes. Parker normally was very upbeat and kept a consistent conversation going even if it took all his effort and more, or he would move about and also play. Compared to those times, however, it seemed that Parker was doing neither such thing. He seemed… not there… at all…_

 _Did this have something to do with what happened at the lakes?_

 _At the single thought of that, the dreading and haunting fears came back in full force about how I could possibly become like my father. The thought not only scared me, but it made me fear for the wonderful pokemon in my life. Would I be as cold and indifferent to them as my father was to others?_

 _The thought made my body shake from the very encounters I had with the man since he left our family, and it not only horrified me… but disgusted me. How could anyone act in such a manner to others? True, no one can get along with every single person that they have met in their lives, but to entirely disregard them all together?_

 _How could he have been once my father? What happened during or after the accident to make him into such a person?_

 _"Eira?" I snapped out of my daze to look over at Parker. He had also returned to the surface after visiting his memories. I felt my hand was being squeezed and I looked down to see Parker's hand there, holding my own._

 _"I'm okay…"_

 _"To be honest Eira… I don't think either of us are…" The boy looked away from me and stared straight before him at a tree, however, I could tell he wasn't truly looking at it from the hazed over look in his eyes that told me he was deep in thought._

 _"Parker…?"_

 _"Eira… what happened at the lake?"_

 _I paused, watching him while he looked at me with the same dark eyes that seemed to appear when it came to these subjects._

 _"I could ask you the same…"_

 _Parker scoffed. "Okay, okay… Yeah, something happened at the lake and I snapped. Mars pushed my buttons-"_

 _"Liar." Parker looked back in shock, his eyes showing more color now under my gaze. "You're not telling me the whole truth."_

 _He sighed and lowered his head. "No… you're right, I'm not." He snickered before patting my shoulder. "But you didn't let me finish either… but I probably would have tried to lie too."_

 _"Parker…" I reached forward and touched his hand with both of mine. Parker looked at it almost like a foreign object before I saw him turn his hand around so that it was holding mine._

 _"Don't hate me Eira, that's the last thing I could handle…"_

 _His words stunned me. How is it that he could think that I hated him? What in the name of Arceus brought him to such a conclusion?_

 _"Hate you…?" I blinked at him as I felt his hand clench in mine. The grip was tightening; he was bothered by something terrible._

 _"Yeah… I feel like shit…" He ran his free hand through his unruly hair. "I really hate what's under the surface Eira… what's truly down inside my soul…"_

 _He wasn't the only one. I still had my concerns about becoming like my father, such as what Saturn had mentioned. It had disturbed me immensely. It continued to do so even as our journey continued, because every time I would see certain pokemon, see Team Galactic members, or see their commanders, it reminded me of my father… Everything connected back to him… and it scared me that I could be like him._

 _"I understand…" I felt my eyes water as I turned my head to my best friend. "Parker… will I… be like him one day…?"_

 _"No way in hell," he replied quickly. "I won't let that happen to you Eira." He looked back at me and turned his body to face me. "So that's what happened, right?"_

 _I nodded. "Saturn tried to mock me, and when that didn't work, he compared me to my father…"_

 _"Damn it…" He shook his head. "Of course they'd pull a low move like that…"_

 _"…It's okay…"_

 _"No its not." I raised my head to look at him. There was a dark and haunting look to his eyes, something that bothered me. Parker was never mad, unless I was hurt. He never lost his temper… he was always so happy…_

 _Now that I'm talking to him so closely about feelings and what not… was that all a guise?_

 _"I've been hiding this from you Eira… this darker side of me…" He glanced over and I saw the defeat in his eyes along with anger, they radiated from the flashes of dull and bright colors in his eyes and the angle of his eyebrows. These were faces I'd never seen on him, that I'd never wanted to see on him. And yet… here they were…_

 _"…Why?"_

 _"So you weren't afraid of what's inside of me…" Parker sighed and seemed to be trying to calm himself down. "But you're not the true cause of my anger… never think that you are."_

 _"…Huh?"_

 _I was really dumbfounded…_

 _He groaned and rubbed the back of his head, a much more Parker like characteristic. "You see, when we grew up, I always liked you for the smile you had on your face. You were so quiet, sweet and caring. Your parents were too… but when shit hit the fan… everything changed… Joey got upset at every little thing after Cyrus left; you couldn't even look at anything in the house because it reminded you of him and how he left. You were so upset that most days you wouldn't leave the underside of your bed. It was like a shield for you to protect you from the few memories you had."_

 _He then paused, the dark look returned to his eyes. I watched him clench his fist that didn't hold my hand. I reached forward with both my hands and held the first one, which he already had a grip on me._

 _"Parker…"_

 _"I was so mad at myself… I couldn't do anything to help you!" He slammed his fist down on the seat beside him and I flinched, his hand gripped harder between my own as I lightly shook from how he had been coming off. "Sure, I tried to make you happy again, but you were so lost that I couldn't find the way to help you! I spent years suffering that my best friend was right beside me and I couldn't do a damn thing to help her!" He lowered his head. "It hurt so damn much… I couldn't even help my best friend… how could I help others? How could I ever have confidence in myself?"_

 _I was silent as I watched him. Had I truly hurt him this much as we grew up? It was painful to watch and see him crumble before me, as if it was my fault in the first place. Just how many people did I make suffer when I was a little girl? What did I do to deserve this curse of haunting others… my mother… Parker… they were the two most important people to me growing up… how could I do such a thing to them?_

 _"Eira… don't blame yourself. It's not your fault." I dared to look up at my best friend while he seemed to have control of himself now and he was rubbing my hands in a soothing manner. "You didn't know… I purposefully kept it that way in order to keep you from suffering more… If I couldn't help you, I was damn well going to at least make sure you didn't get worse because of me…"_

 _"…Why go to all that trouble for me?"_

 _He blinked at me, as if trying to find the words to explain himself to me. He sighed. "Eira… Listen… why do you think I'm still here?"_

 _"Why?" I blinked, now confused. "You're here… because you're my friend?"_

 _"Best friend Eira, I think I earned that title." I snorted a small laugh before he seemed to get nervous. "I've always cared about you…"_

 _"I do too Parker…" I smiled; finally what seemed to be the real Parker Demeet was before me._

 _"Eira… it's not just that I care about you, but I'd do anything for you." Parker stared me right in the eyes. "Eira… I love you."_

 _My eyes widened as the reality hit me full force. Parker… he loved… me? More than a friend? But why? What was so appealing about a scared, shy, young girl like myself? Sure, I'd become a bit braver with the help of my pokemon in the last few months, but I was still terrified of many things and or many people around us. What's so interesting about that?_

 _"Let me explain before you get all confused and what not." I looked up at Parker while he leaned back in his stone seat while leaning against a tree. "This isn't something I'm saying out of the blue for the hell of it, and you know it. It's been many year since I discovered this Eira. When we were… maybe eight… you finally smiled for the first time since the accident and it was because of me… I wanted to do it more, making you smile and feel better after all that had happened. And from there that childhood affection turned into attraction. I was just so compelled by you all the time to make you happy… and that's when I realized that I loved you, even if you didn't notice…" He paused and looked over at me nervously. "That's why I got so mad at Mars… she really pushed me wrong when she started to talk about you as a helpless, weak and shy girl."_

 _"But… I am all those things…" I looked down at my lap._

 _"No you're not!" Parker's voice caused me to look back up and he was standing before me with his fists curled up in anger. "You're strong, smart, and quiet. Sure, you might be cautious after everything that's happened, but you have every right to be that way after what's happened. You don't like to hurt others, that's not being helpless and staying on the sidelines, that's having morals. You have a strong team that believes in you and you should too or else that will be your downfall Eira. So do me a favor and believe in yourself for them."_

 _His earlier confession had escaped my mind entirely. I looked at him before turning to look at the others. While they continued to play with Paladin, who hadn't noticed a thing that was going on between Parker and myself, the others were watching me every second they had with nervous eyes._

 _It felt much like that time where I nearly gave up on my journey because I hurt others in Veilstone City. I was so torn between what I should do… it was also one of the more in depth conversations I'd ever had with Parker, as well as the most emotional. Parker and I had never shared such conversations before, but when we did, they were meaningful and necessary._

 _Seeing the pattern from the conversation, it felt like before, a largely visible choice was placed before me. Do I take the easy way out and stop where I am and run, or do I take the harder path and continue to push myself to prove to others that I'm not like that man who was once my father?_

 _I once faced this decision before. The last time I feared that I would hurt someone months ago it made me think back enough to where I was willing to deprive my pokemon of what they wished, and what I needed. I couldn't afford to be such a selfish being anymore. I had five other lives that depended on me. I knew I believed in them… but believing in myself… that was the hard part._

 _But I had to try… for all of them… my pokemon… my friends… Parker… they all deserved at least that much._

 _"I… can't promise that I can do it right away…" I looked back up to Parker, my eyes coming into focus on his face. "But I'll try…"_

 _"Hey, that's more then what I was expecting." Parker patted my shoulder. "Eira… you've come so far… and we can't go back." His eyes shined brighter at me. "We gotta keep moving forward, or else we'll always be stuck."_

 _"Mh…" I nodded to him before I leaned over and kissed his cheek. His face instantly reddened at the motion. "Parker… I'm still unsure of how quite I feel… may I have some time to get my feelings and thoughts in order?"_

 _"We've got time Eira." He nervously smiled at me. "Take what you need, but I'll always be there for you."_

 _ **I was surprised at first when he told me that he loved me, but I was happier when he told me I could have some time to take and figure out my own feelings. It was also the second time that I nearly stopped being a trainer because of Team Galactic, and what my father had become under Rosalie's control.**_

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

 _I blinked at Parker when he noticed that he wasn't going to fight in the Pokѐmon League. "You're not… battling?"_

 _Parker turned toward me and looked stunned for a moment before he sighed. "Yeah… I meant to tell you earlier but… I just wasn't sure how."_

 _I blinked at him for a little while and he refused to look at me. "Parker."_

 _Parker then looked back up at me. I didn't look at him with calculating eyes or judgmental manners; I just stood there, neutral, wanting to hear him how. He seemed to have received the message loud and clear because he sighed and rubbed the back of his head._

 _"After everything that happened, I didn't want to put you in a position so soon to battle someone you cared about. Sometimes it makes a difference when you battle someone that you don't know compared to who you do, and with all the suffering, I didn't want that to turn into something that would hurt you. Besides," he grinned at me. "You deserve the title Eira, I've never met someone more amazing then you, strong, brave, cute or otherwise. So… if you want to battle me, then fine, but… I didn't want it to come to that if we both made it to the end or battle here in the caves. I didn't want to force it on you."_

 _And once again was reminded why warmth spread through my chest whenever I was with Parker. Over time, I felt it might have been embarrassment at some point earlier on, or selfishness because I liked to keep him mostly for myself. But now I realized just how wrong I was. It was love… an emotion I'd hardly felt in all my years since I was a child (and most recently a few weeks ago) unless I was by his side and could feel the warmth of his hand in my own, protecting me from all the terrible things that went on in our lives._

 _I realized it then… I was in love with Parker too… our feelings and caring for each other were mutual…_

 _I smiled at him more before I hurried into his arms. Parker seemed stunned by my display of emotion, but I just rolled it off my shoulders and held him close to me with all the strength I had. I refused to let him go._

 _"Eira?"_

 _"…Thank you… for everything…"_

 _He rubbed the back of his head and blushed. "You don't need to thank me for this, it's just common sense… even if I normally don't have that…"_

 _I giggled a bit at him and pulled back so he could see my face. Parker must have seen something good because he was smiling too. I felt him pull me close one more time and hug me happily._

 _ **When I realized my feelings for him, and the fact that he was giving up his dream of being the strongest trainer for me… there was no words to describe that… I felt loved… more then I had in my entire life. I wish I had known that so much sooner…**_

 _ **So that I could show him how much I loved him…**_

 _ **But now I can…**_

 **Present:**

Parker's eyes were beyond wide when I pulled back from the simple kiss that I gave him. He took a step back from me and just stood there: stunned.

 _Did he perhaps… not like the kiss?_

"Eira…?" Parker looked to the ground before he raised his head to see my worried face. "Did you…"

I tilted my head at him. _Did I need to come out and say it? Perhaps that would be best… even if he normally knows everything about me and what I'm thinking, I believe he was too stunned to use his gift._

"Parker…" My best friend focused on me. "I love you."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Are you sure?" Parker was quick to raise his hands to my shoulder to brace himself on me. "Just because I told you it doesn't mean you have to say it back. I just wanted you to know, that was all. If you don't feel that way, you don't need to-oww!"

Parker quickly shut up when I smacked the back of his head. He rubbed it and whined before looking back up at me with the slightly irritated look upon my features.

"Wait…" Parker looked at me with what I could only make out to be hopeful eyes. "You mean that?"

I raised an eye brow at him.

"Sorry… I forgot the way you worked for a second." He rubbed the back of his head nervously. "But you really mean that?"

I nodded my head tor him.

"Say it again for me Eira, please?" He took a hand of mine and held it in his own, intertwining our fingers. "I love you."

"…I love you too… Parker…"

Just saying the words made my heart jump into my throat and the heat speared throughout me, but for who those words were for, it made everything feel so… good. I felt like I was nearly floating, flying, it was a feeling I'd just never felt before…

"Can I… can I kiss you?" I felt his hand squeeze mine. He looked right into my eyes and looked into them before I nodded to him. Parker used his other free hand to pull me in closer, his face just a short distance from mine.

"Alright, you two had enough time for that." I jumped as the door opened and Violet appeared, more dressed up then normal. "I know this is a special moment, but we got people who are going to tear down this building if we don't take care of your crowning ceremony."

"Okay…" I looked back to Parker. He still had a strong grip on my hand, but I didn't take it from him, instead, pulled him along with myself. "Let's go."

"Hey, don't gotta tell me twice Eira." Parker grinned and walked side by side with me. Our pokemon hurrying behind us as Violet led us toward the main hall.

"Violet…?" The woman looked over her shoulder at me. "When did you get here?"

"Just a short while ago. Regardless of the things going on in my life, I wasn't about to miss your big day." She grinned back at me. "So get yourself ready, its go time."

Violet opened a large door that seemed to lead us toward a ballroom. Many people were there, dressed in fancy clothes, all gathered around tables and a stage, where I saw the other two champions waiting. Violet held out a hand for me to take and I looked back at Parker nervously.

He removed his hand from mine, but not before kissing my knuckles. "I'll be with your dad when your done, so hang in there Eira."

I allowed Violet to lead me up the stairs of the stage and soon, everyone's attention was on us. Clapping could be heard in all directions and I was shocked to see that it was for me and the other champions before me.

 _I was a champion…_

"Thank you all for coming." Violet began as she stood at the beginning of the stage. "Tonight, we're here to crown ourselves a new champion. This girl before us, I met her nearly a year ago, my first encounter with her was after she had fallen over a bridge and her pokemon fled with her into a cave. When I first met her, I was told a lot. She had a lot to accomplish, a lot to figure out, and a lot to change. She accomplished most of these things, but not without trouble along the way, many hurdles were forced against her, such as Team Galactic, the loss of her mother, and facing Rosalie Agustino. But now she stands before you as a new champion. This young woman is more then capable of taking on Rosalie Agustino, and protecting this region. And so, as a fellow champion, I'm here to crown her.

A box was brought before us, inside of it, as Jezebel revealed to us, was a ring. It was specially crafted right after the battle I had with Cynthia and there were stones for every one of my pokemon. A stone was for each of my pokemon, colors matching their shades. I looked at all the stones and noticed I had seven on the platinum colored ring, for all seven of my pokemon. Bubbly, Elecky, Magma, Bouncy, Paladin, Shadow and Zipper (the name I had chosen for Rotom after he had been put in my poession.

Violet grabbed the ring and my right hand. "With this ring, I crown you champion of the Sinnoh region! So let me introduce to you all, your new champion! Champion Eira Helaine!"

The crowd cried out and I was happy to see everyone having a good time. I quickly found Parker in the crowd. When Violet released me then, letting me know that soon I would have photos to be taken, I hurried to Parker and he hugged me close.

"Wanna dance?"

"Yes."

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

The night had slowly passed by. I spent it all holding onto Parker as we danced hidden in a corner of the ballroom. Jezebel had asked to take the balcony with Mattie and their teams. Regardless of that, we enjoyed our time. It was quiet after many people had asked questions. When they were satisfied, they left us be.

I had my arms wrapped around Parker; our eyes were silently talking to each other. We didn't need to speak, we had each other.

"Are you two still dancing?" We both turned to look over at Cameron who was also dressed up fro the occasion and had both baby poekmon in his arms. Paladin quickly jumped to my arms. "Eira, the photographer has been waiting for nearly twenty minutes on you!"

Parker grinned before letting me go from him. "I'll be here when you get back."

I nodded to him before I made my way over to where Cameron was leading me to. On the stage, where the rest of my pokemon seemed to be, was a man standing with Violet and the other two champions. They looked deep in conversation before Violet sensed me come close.

"There you are Eira! Let's go, let's go!" She shoved me over the direction of the photographer.

"Hello my dear!" The man grinned at me. "Let's go ahead and take some photos of you and your team. My name is Maxwell Porter, and I've taken photos of all the other champions, so please get situated over there for me please."

I hurried over to where the man had pointed and my team gathered around me. In no time at all, smiles were on our faces to help us remember this special day.

"Now say cheese!"

"Em!"

"Ra!"

"Mag!"

"Lu!"

"Ra!"

"Beetz!"

"Gya!"

I tilted my ehad to the camera. "Thank you…"

He took the photo.

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Damn it! I didn't get it done in time, but I was pretty close!**

 **But now we've moved passed the mile stone that I've been trying to finish for months! We have passed the Pokѐmon League! I'm so excited, because those two deaths that we really want to get to will be here before we know it!**

 **Now let's get going! Only four chapters are left, so hand in there people! I love you all, thank you for being so patient and I'll be much more on time next week!**

 **Don't forget to Review and Send in Questions!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	30. Violet's Special Tasks

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter_ _30: Violet's Special Tasks_

 **Eira's Point of View:**

Violet had asked me to wait. She told me that she would be back soon with information and where Razi and Rose would be. She promised me that I wouldn't have to wait long, but until then, relax.

But it was incredibly hard to do such a thing after all we'd gone through.

Violet knew he couldn't travel far, not with the wounds he had. She could still sense them in the region and she had been working night and day to find him. Violet wasn't letting any possibility slip her mind. She checked out all possible ways for where they could be and where would be the best place for them to hide.

Soon it would be time for me to join them and find him.

"Eira!" I turned my head from where I sat. Parker quickly came up next to me with a simple cup of mint tea in his hands. "I got you some tea."

"Thank you…" I slowly took the mug from him before I felt him kiss my cheek.

"No problem!" Parker sat down next to me on the bench I was using. We were Sandgem at the moment visiting my father, the professor and Cameron while they continued to do more research on a few of the new types of pokemon that I'd discovered at the Pokѐmon League. My pokemon were all about, playing and training, with the exception of Paladin, who was napping at the moment on my lap.

I let out a steady breathe to try and calm myself. I was getting more and more riled up about finding Razi and getting revenge for my family that it got to me quite often. I'd gone through already five cups of tea; the one I had held at the time was number six.

"I know you really want to get back at him Eira, I know you do, but I think you may wanna hold off on the tea…" Parker watched me nervously as I sipped on another cup.

"…Sorry…"

I didn't mean to worry him, but my feelings were quite strong, it was… difficult to know how to handle them. I was better then at the beginning of my journey, but apparently there was still a lot left for me to work with.

"Its okay Eira, I just wanted you to know is all." I felt Parker put his arms around me and I smiled from the feeling. "Don't you worry though, I'm having one of those feelings, and I think its cuz we're going to get some information for Violet soon."

I dared to look over at my boyfriend in the eyes. Parker's eyes were serious, not at all joking. It made me feel more like he was taking this serious, which I knew he would. No matter how much he may not have gotten along with my mother before her untimely death, he still cared about the woman at one time or another, as did I.

I looked forward to where the bushes on the professor's laboratory were just starting to peal back from the snow and the bulbs below them were putting out color. Small little blue flowers known as "Siberian squill" were nearly glowing in color before us against the brightly painted building of white. They were beautiful this time of year, just as the spring once more graced our region to assist in showing off its beauty.

However, the true beauty that I wished to see was the red blood of Razi Harper spilling out onto the ground, much like my mother's had been.

"You guys!" We quickly turned our heads to see Cameron running out to greet us. Cleffa was in his arms and cheering happily as he ran with her. I could see the father figure for the pokemon shake his head before he came to a stop before us. "Violet just called the lab!"

At his words I was to my feet, my cup of tea gone and the glass to the side. The determined look came back to me and I narrowed my eyes at Cameron.

Parker was right up behind me, taking my had quickly and knowing what was going through my head. "Violet's got a location?"

"She's narrowed it down to one island just off the coat of Snowpoint." Camreron pulled out his poketch and showed us the image of an island to the northwest of the city. "She wants to meet you two out there, I'll follow you some of the way, but the big fight is all you Eira, I'm going to help the professor with more of his research, and I don't want to get in your way…"

I nodded to him. I was thankfully in the fact that Cameron understood the possibilities that he could get serious hurt and killed. In fact, it could have happened on the summit, if Razi had chosen to him instead of my mother. I would have lost a close friend, and I think that would have been just as bad, even if I would have been able to patch things up with my mother in time.

"Then let's get going." Parker noted and they both looked at me.

"Get on Shadow." My friends nodded and we hurried over to my dragon pokemon and she was happy to fly us to the island of choice. Once we were all situated and other pokemon grabbed for the flight, Shadow took off and we were on our way to the new land that Violet wished for us to be at.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

We arrived at the island within a few hours. On the beach there I could see members of the IPHP League. Violet was there along with her brother and boyfriend. Once she saw me, I saw the woman wave me in and we landed before her on the beach there before the palm trees. Violet looked at me with a smile, but it seemed hollow. The news she planned to give me didn't look like it would be what I would like it to be.

"Hey there Hon!" Violet quickly guide me in toward her where I quickly stepped up beside her. "So do you want the good news or the bad news?"

I narrowed my eyes at her.

She sighed. "All serious today, huh?" She shook her head before looking me in the eye. "Eira, Razi and Rose are on this island, but we've been having trouble pinpointing their location. How I have planned to get around that and find them is for us to make a lot of noise, a lot of battling. She's always drawn to destructive power, both she and Razi are. I plan to have you make a scene all over this island here in the three different towns in order to get them to reveal themselves. So we'll start here, in the fight area. I have two people lined up to battle you and Parker."

"A battle for the two of us?" Parker questioned her. "Why involve me? I'm not a champion or winner of any sort."

"You don't know how truly powerful you are, and being with Eira makes the two of you together a powerful couple." Violet smirked at us. "And why not? If they're focused on the battle, that gives me a chance to sense if Rose and Razi are nearby or check some of my hidden sources while the crowds are drawn. Doesn't have to be anything long and drawn out, just a large amount of power to get her attention to give me a clue where she is. Normally it draws her in or activates her powers so I can get a better sense on her when a good powerful battle is going on."

"Who would we be facing?" I blinked at Violet while she smiled at me responding.

"Some people you've faced before, but are eager to face you and Parker in a double battle." Violet motioned for us to follow her. "This way, we'll battle in the square. Its pretty big so you shouldn't hit anyone besides your opponent."

Violet led us down the street behind us to where a large crowd already seemed to be formed. She pushed through easily, with her abilities and all, before we arrived in the center. I was surprised when I saw who we were facing, as it was none other then Volkner and two men stood on the other side of the arena and grinned when they saw me.

"I'm eager to show you how I've grown Champion Eira." Volkner pulled out a pokeball.

"The two of us have been working together ever since you're coronation," Flint added in. "We're really stronger now; I can't wait to see how you fair."

A small snort of a laugh came out of me while I chose my pokemon with ease. Only one of these men faced this pokemon, and one I knew was eager to take them on.

"I'm guessing your going to use Magma?" Parker questioned as he walked up next to me. "Man, it's been a long time since we battled like this…"

"Parker?" My boyfriend looked over at me in question. "Battle with me… use Snorlax… his body fat it will help with Magma's heat…"

"Nice thinking Eira!" Parker grinned before pulling out the said pokemon. "Now let's do this! Go Snorlax!"

"Magma."

Our two pokemon appeared in the middle of the area and the crowd around us began to cheer. Our opponents grinned before throwing out their own pokemon to face us.

"Go Electivire!"

"Let's go Magmortor!"

It didn't surprise me that these power houses were the ones for us to face here in the square. I was pleased because these were the pokemon that gave us the most trouble in the past. With Snorlax's defense and Magma's offence however, I didn't feel nearly as worried.

"Let's get going then Champion! Parker!" Volkner seemed to be vibrating with excitement before I saw him throw his arm out to begin the match. "Thunder Electivire!"

"Fire blast Magmortor!"

Both pokemon charged up their attacks before firing them at our side of the field. The sheer energy of the attack would be overwhelming for most, and if it wasn't for the fact that we were trying to draw out the brother sister duo that has caused everyone so much grief, it wouldn't be like this.

"Block it Snorlax!" Parker's pokemon jumped out in front of Magma and took the hit from the two rivaling pokemon. We watched as it slammed into his body and the electricity bounced all over him while the fire coated his body.

Parker could only smirk.  
When the attacks finally dimmed down, Flint and Volkner turned to look and see what kind of damage they had done to us. What stood before them, however, was a different story then what they had anticipated. Snorlax stood there, rolling back on its feet, with minimal damage. He actually had the audacity to rub at his wounds as if they were small little bug pokemon bites.

"Shit!" Volkner swore.

"Don't you remember from when I battled you Volk?" Parker chuckled. "Snorlax has an incredibly high defense as well as withstanding status effects due to his thick fact ability. Even with a powerful attack like that, you're not going to make much of a dent into his body. There was a reason I chose him for this battle. He can take all the hits we want him to, and still dish out." Parker turned to me. "Now it's my girlfriend's turn."

I saw both men gulp at me. I smiled at them sweetly while Paladin cheered in my arms.

"Magma, finish them with fire blast!"

"Mag!" My pokemon hurled both of its arms before itself, while Snorlax moved out of the way, and white fire blasted from his arms toward the other two pokemon. In the single attack used on them, the two pokemon were lost from sight in the blast.

People cried out in shock and it was the chaos on the field that I felt something… something… evil… I looked off in the direction of further into the island, but as soon as I felt it, it was gone…

 _That must have been what Violet was looking for… one of them looked back at us…_

"Alright, I give." Volkner raised his hands in defeat. "My pokemon's down."

"Mine too…" Flint sighed. "Damn, and I thought we had a chance together. Didn't know the boyfriend well enough to anticipate him having a powerhouse like that…"

"Thanks you two," Violet quickly rolled up behind us and patted my shoulder. "You got exactly what we needed."

"How exactly did that happen?" Cameron was skeptical due to his lack of connection to the energies around him.

"Because during the chaos of the battle, we could feel the very energy of Rose or Razi themselves," Violet explained to him. She then turned to me. "You felt it, didn't you? I saw you focus in on it same as the rest of us."

I nodded. "They're to the east… I can't tell if they're north or south…"

"Still, that means its working." Alex crossed his arms. "The fact that you can feel it so soon after becoming a changeling shows that you're powers are expanding and growing. We now have a rough idea where Rose and Razi could be, and so we'll need to explore those areas."

"So then where should we go?" Cameron questioned.

"We should probably check out both locations, either could hold the two of them." Vince held a finger to his chin as he thought about it. "The quietest place for them to hide is in the mountains, but the quickest way for them to heal would be the resort to the south… lots of snobby, rich folk who like to keep to themselves mostly, unless you have a crazy title or a crap ton of money."

"So the resort would be your first choice?" Violet asked her twin.

"I would, it wouldn't be the first time they hid in plain sight." Vince shrugged. "They did at the Battle Frontier."

"You're right," Violet then turned to me. "I hope you don't mind Eira, but I got my own personal vendetta against Rose myself, much like the other girls, so I'll be going with you as a backup. The others will join us soon, but they needed to handle some paperwork and social media to keep them off our backs while we follow this lead. It could be a few days before they meet up with us."

"Okay." I nodded to her.

"But don't worry Hon, Razi's all yours." She ruffled my hair through my hat before she turned to look at her brother. "I hope you don't mind Vince, but if Cameron's coming with us, you better keep your eye on him. He's someone that those two might use against us if we're not careful."

"No worries Vi, I'll take care of him." Vince chuckled before the two males eyes met. Cameron's eyes went wide before a light flush came to his face and he focused on Cleffa in his arms. Cleffa, of course, got mad at her father figure and demanded his attention.

"So let's head out now then, it will take us the rest of the day and part of the morning to make it to the resort area." Violet motioned for us to follow her. "Come on, along the way I'll give you some information about this island. It may help when dealing with Razi and Rose."

 **Razi's Point of View:**

The time it took for me to recover wasn't long enough. Eira's carination didn't last long enough, nor did the time before Violet began to sense our ever growing power coming back to us after our battle in the Distorted World.

It had taken a long time for Rose to find the right people to heal me. She'd kidnapped man of them from the town to the south of us in order for myself to recover, but also to heal over the skin where my shoulder was torn to shreds and my arm and leg were ripped off that same side. Eira and her pokemon had done me a lot of damage, but I would pay them back for that.

Rose had taken care of me in the time frame that we'd been out of the eyes of the world. She'd managed to get me healed enough that we could attach prosthetic limbs to myself in order to get me moving around like I normally did before. It was strange… I never thought much about how a fake limb would feel until I had one. Sure, Rose had them for many years and I had helped her get them and repair them if needed, but… it still seemed so strange to have them, and not my real arm and leg.

 _Razi_. I lifted my head when I heard my sister call out for me. She appeared next to me where I was sitting on the ledge of the mountain. _I can feel them, their faint, but they're coming. We'll need to move soon. Perhaps move onto another region…_

"I saw some issues that came up in a region overseas." I noted to her. "It's called Unova. I'll plan on getting us out there in a couple days; we need to get out before Violet and her group find us. Maybe join the group? It's been noted for both being a pokemon equality group as well as pokemon thieves."

 _The more insanity in a group, the more likely we should join them._ Rose touched my arm with her fake one. _We've always been powerful as our own, but our group has hardly changed, Violet's group has grown at every new region and plan we've come across._ Rose paused for a moment to think _. We can't let anyone stop us Razi, we still have so much to prove…_

"I know we do, just like we still need to prove it to them." I looked down to the hand that still remained on my body. On one of the fingers was a ring, a ring that I hadn't paid enough attention to in a long time. It reminded me while we both left home, why we both began to work for Team Rocket or for Rose to marry Giovanni, and how we became who we were...

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Okay, so not the longest chapter ever, but this was more ment to be a filler to get us on the way to finishing up this story and add in a few more questions maybe to confuse you! I don't know if any of you picked up on what I was doing, but I'm going to reveal Rose and Razi's past here and there! After what I've written, I can't exactly get away with** _ **not**_ **doing it anymore!**

 **And also everyone, I'm sorry this appeared so late in the day! I nearly had this done and just needed to finish a few sentences when I was pulled away from the laptop and didn't get home until nearly ten-thirty at night. But here it is! And soon we'll be getting into the really crazy crap coming up soon, so hang on to something!**

 **Love you all and see you next week! I'll try to be more prepared next time! Don't forget to Send in Questions! Or Reviews!**

 **Halloween Witch**


	31. Revealing the Truth

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter_ _31: Revealing the Truth_

 **Razi's Point of View:**

I couldn't remember a time in the past where Rose and I ended up having things well off. Our family had been a harsh one, set in their old ways, and both seeming to think that Rose had no potential to be anything but a trophy wife attached to an expensive name and title.

I can still remember the haunting words they use on her so often, of how my sister would never amount up to anything, of how she was only worth something through marriage and children with passing on the line. I was supposed to become the head of the family, I was supposed to take over the company, but I never wanted it like Rose did. She spent many years trying to prove herself to our parents with no such luck…

She disowned them, she ran away, taking me with her, and that was when we met her husband, Giovanni. By the point our parents had ever found us again, we were already over the age of eighteen and were legal adults, Rose set to marry Giovanni and to be the second in command of his organization.

My father was the most upset with us. He tried to drag me back so often, never was that not the theme of his trip until I would finally agree. I never did. Rose was my life since I was young, and so was her goals and dreams. If she wanted to rule the world, I'd capture it and give it to her. If she wanted a certain pokemon, I'd seize it and place it within her own personal collection. If she needed an operation done, I completed it as fast as I possibly could.

We'd done so many things over the years that our parents couldn't tell us otherwise now that we didn't amount up to anything. Rose was a killer and a world wide villain, I was no different, but I hadn't been before we left the region.

After Rose's first defeat, when we made public news, we made a personal visit to our parents home. Mother hadn't been home at the time, but Father had. He was in the middle of watching the news when we headed inside. Father seemed nervous of us at first, but he seemed to find his bravado one he looked at us, after all, he was constantly knocking us down.

He didn't say anything more when Rose and I killed him.

Father was the first one I'd ever murdered, but it had felt like a relief once it was over with. No longer could his words taunt us or harm us as we tried to get better at our work. But Rose… she said his voice still taunted him, that he was still here. She felt him still hanging over her shoulder and criticizing her even when she completed jobs as a murderer. She'd scream in the night, unable to stop herself… I'd often have to bring her back into the reality that she was okay, she was safe with me. It would take a bit of time, but she would come back. She had too much unfinished business to do.

I flexed my new arm out before me, watching it move to my mind's command with the held of my pokemon. It was still… strange for me to have it after all this time, but, I was slowly getting used to it. I found it much easier to use in attacks, and it helped that I couldn't feel any pain through it. It was like an… attacking shield? A both offensive and defensive utility? I guess that worked.

 _Razi…_ I looked up to see my sister looming in the shadows. _They're moving to the south, they haven't found us yet._

I dared to move from my spot to where my sister had been. Her little spot in the shadows of the mountain was near where an opening was to see the island below us. I kept away from looking outside, not in fear of seeing others, but I was worried Eira would find us too soon. That was what I was fearful for. I knew she was after me in comparison to the other champions going after my sister.

I looked through the opening she'd been watching from and I saw the little town that Eira was heading to. It was places like the resort area that my parents went to that drove me insane. Rose and I had quickly take people from there to heal us before hurrying back to the mountains in the prior time while Eira was still on the main land.

Just looking in the direction of the place made me sick, it reminded me too much of those haunted memories…

 _Razi!_ Rose's voice entered my mind and startled me out of the hatred I felt.

"What?!" I raised my voice at her, still angered and startled by the attack she gave me.

 _Your killing intent, little brother, that's what!_ She seemed to silently seethe at me from her spot before me. _I am well aware of how much we hate those fools in the Resort Area; however, you just broadcasted your energy! Violet and her group could sense us! We still need another hour or so before we can leave. I'm going to finished sucking a man dry of his life energy, keep watch and be ready for anything._

She left after that to another room in the mountain that we were in. Once she was gone, I sighed. I probably just screwed us all over…

 **Eira's Point of View:**

Violet quickly let me over Battle Zone Island. It was a decently sized island to the north of Veilstone and the east of Snowpoint. It had three major area-like cities on it; the one we had arrived at was the Fight Area, where many tournaments go on for people to compete in. Then there was the Survival Area which was up a bit in the mountains just before people normally take the climb to the second highest mountain in the region, Stark Mountain.

The last area, which we were on our way toward, was the Resort Area, which is where we expected to find many people who would disrespect us as well. Regardless of the fact that I had my new title as Champion of Sinnoh, people would still disrespect us for being so young, not as much money to our names, and claiming that we would lose our title in a year or so… not like they knew much about battling and what not…

"This place feels so… stuffy…" Parker muttered from next to me as we moved into the town.

"Mh…" I could only agree with him while people of rich natures, expensive clothing and fake smiles approached us here in town. Quickly the three older members of the IPHP League were swarmed with the people that lived here or those that were rich enough to take a vacation here.

"Champion Eira? I never would have expected you to be here!" I turned my head to see an older woman covered in thick jewelry and walking toward us. "To see such a famous girl here is so exciting! Come! I will show you around the town with my grandson! He's someone you'd more the love to meet."

Before I could argue with the woman, she reached out her hand and snatched my own into her's. I blinked in shock at her before I was dragged away from Parker. In an instant, Parker was hot on my heels and broke the woman's grip, pulling me back behind him. The woman stumbled before her heated eyes glared at him.

"You okay Eira?"

"…I don't know…"

"You insolent brat!" The woman marched up and Parker suddenly became defensive. She smacked him, hard, across the face. "Don't get in my way!"

"Parker!" I hurried out from behind him and rubbed his swollen cheek that was quickly changing color. Paladin jumped out of my arms so that I could do so, but not before glaring at the lady behind us. I joined him only a moment later. "Leave Parker alone."

"He shouldn't have gotten in my way; those of us in the upper class have no reason to speak with those beneath us." She spat in Parker's direction before turning back to me. "You, my dear, should be with your own kind. Come, leave the fool and enjoy a day with my grandson and I. I'd love to get to know the champion of Sinnoh who could become my granddaughter."

"Here Grandmother." A young man about the age of Violet or a little younger, but still far too old for my liking. He seemed slimy, not so much in his appearance, his form was flawless as well as his clothes, however, it was his personality that was appalling. He bowed lightly before the woman before looking in my direction. "Ah, Champion Eira Helaine… or may I call you Eira?"

"No." My eyes narrowed at the male before him and I saw him stiffen at my anger.

"Come now my dear, surely we can talk for a bit without the lower class boy around." He walked around us and got close, ignoring the growling and barking noises that Paladin was using to keep him and his idiotic grandmother away.

"I said no." I backed up a bit and I felt Parker behind me. He was quick to wrap an arm around me in some sort of comfort against them, but there was no cure for the fools before us.

"Don't be so hard to get, an upper class girl such as yourself should be appalled to be in this boy's presence." His face came in closer and I flinched at the alcohol I could smell on his breath. "A daughter of a Grand Festival winner, a Grand Festival winner yourself, a champion of the Pokѐmon League… how could life not get any better for you? You could just sit back and enjoy the rest of your life in peace, doing every single little thing you wanted… and why not do it with a guy like me who could show you a good time?"

"Yes, yes, my grandson would be prefect for you!" the grandmother grinned. "In five years time, when you're legal age, you can be wed!"

 _Wed? To this utter fool and his family?_ I narrowed my eyes at them once more before I saw something move beside me. I was actually surprised to see that there was a pond there, just deep enough to get them wet. I huffed before looking at my pokemon at my feet.

"Paladin, I believe they need to cool off." My pokemon cheered as I gave out the order and he was quick to grab their ankles and throw them into the pond. Their screams made me smile as I finally had space to breathe and stepped out from Parker's tight hold. Both of the two rich humans had tried to jump out of the pond as quickly as possible, but Paladin glared down at them and they stayed where they were.

"Well, you were better then me at least…" I was surprised when Violet came up behind me and I soon saw the reason behind her for her comment. I blinked in shock as I saw a house and a small group of people on fire with her shiny charizard only a few feet away, shy scratching its cheek. "Opps…"

"Come on…" Alex sighed as he directed us all deeper into town. "The mayor should be up ahead and we can ask about anyone missing or what not."

We silently followed him, fearful that we would turn back and look for round two…

 **Roselie's Point of View:**

Razi's little upset of emotion thankfully didn't get us caught at the time. I was hesitant and withdrawn for a good while in waiting to see if Violet or the Helaine girl had sensed me. It was only a matter of time before they would find this place, however, I intended to keep us as far away from it as possible until hopefully Razi and I were long gone…

It was much harder for us to act upon our feelings with the girls so close. It was much easier when they were on the mainland in the south. With the power of the pokemon and the mountain to hide us, it made it that our killing intent was masked to those who were on the islands. My only guess as to how they found us so quickly could be that Violet wasn't present during the Helaine girls' battles, in search of me. She must have sensed either Razi or I while near or on this island, and she led her battalion of troupes with her.

I could only be thankful that the town of rich folk would keep them distracted, even for a little while. Those people were so stuck up with their pride… just like Mother and Father had been…

Why couldn't he leave me be? Even in death his words still came after me! I was failure in his eyes for only being a woman, why couldn't I have been born a man? I could have lived with not marrying Giovanni, but simply being his second in command would have been more then enough. How could just being the wrong gender be all that much of a deal? How is it that the old ways still hadn't bled out in certain parts of the county!

"Sis?" I raised my head only to see Razi slowly approaching me, his eyes soft as he looked me over. "He bothering you again?"

 _Why?_ My thoughts were so clear that it hardly took a moment for Razi to know exactly what I was referring to.

"I don't think we'll ever know Sis…" Razi took the seat next to me and laid his head down on my shoulder. "At least we have each other."

 _But for how long?_ Razi lifted his head to look at me in shock. _How long before one of us dies? The only reason most of our operations have worked up until this point have been because there have been two of us, two different sets of skills aside from murder. While I was always good at planning, you've always been good about handling the grunt work. If one of us dies, it will be nothing but an act of revenge after that. No true train of thought…_

"We haven't have true thoughts since we were kids Rose." Razi sighed and I felt him pull me in for a one armed hug, something he hadn't needed to do since we finally escaped our parents as children. "But they can't get us. We've been on the run all of our lives, from one person or another. Be it our father, Violet Vilmos, or the entire world, that fact hasn't changed." He looked at me dead in the eyes. "They're not going to get us. We'll be fine. Now come on, being all sappy isn't you, where's the malicious woman who's been killing people for six years?"

I let out a huff before my mouth opened in a silent laugh. Even without the ability to make sound anymore, I could still feel the energy it took to do just what I had done. I felt like a weight was lifted of my shoulders and the true mine of myself came forward to see my brother.

 _Then I suppose we better get to work._ I stood up from my spot. _I plan to head to the boat we have hidden on the other side of the mountain for our escape. I shall check on the preparations and make sure the hypnosis is holding strong. Stay here and keep an eye on the Helaine girl and Violet. I don't want to see hide or hair of them until we have regrouped in Unova._

"No problem Sis!" He saluted me after standing up in a joking manner. "You don't have to worry about a thing. I'll be here ready and waiting when you get back."

 _Good,_ I moved toward the entrance to the cave before stopping and releasing one of my pokemon. _I'll leave Hypno with you. Mew knows I won't get anything done with him around…_

True enough to my word, the psychic type on my team was already cuddling into my body and trying to pull away clothes. I smacked him to the ground before tossing the pokeball to my brother. He caught it with ease and chuckled at the pokemon at his feet.

"You really never learn, do you Hypno?"

 _I will be back in a few hours._

I left my brother behind then, hurrying off to see how our boat was coming along. I felt a feeling of dread come over me, and I knew something was to happen, and my first objective to make sure it didn't come true, was make sure the boat was on one piece.

 **Razi's Point of View:**

After my sister left, the perverted pokemon seemed to sulk in my presence. Of course, he had never liked seeing the male autonomy, but he loved any females'. He continued to mope with Rose gone and I moved my way back out to where my hidden watch post was.

Once I was back to the opening, I scanned my surroundings and kept watch on the little town below us to the south east. The Resort Area was still filled with nothing more the pigs and swine of people who trample over others.

At least there was something I could agree about with the champions. Rich people suck.

However, even with seeing the town down there, I couldn't help but think back to my sister moments ago, where she was still struggling to control her internal demons. They were only getting worse as we moved on, and at some moment or another, it would make or break her. I could only prey that our father couldn't still get to her as much as I'm sure she believed it, but it was impossible to know. Rose wouldn't let me inside her head, as much as I'm sure we both needed to find out the source and extent of her state of mine after our father's death. However, she felt as though I was cursing her when I tried to enter with the help of my pokemon. Much like when she was cursed by Jezebel.

I clenched my fist. It infuriated me… _How could Rose go on? Why couldn't the old man leave her alone? Even in death he still haunted her, or it was her mind playing tricks and forcing her to remember, because there is something she didn't want to come to terms with. I'm sure they're must be a secret or two. I wasn't blind to see how certain things she didn't tell me anymore, but did it for the better good of our livelihood._

I suddenly froze. My killing intent had suddenly gone up while I was internally venting about my sister's troubles and the scars we carry. My killing intent had expanded, just enough, where the Helaine girl could get a hold of it.

"Shit…"

 **Eira'as Point of View:**

After speaking with the mayor for nearly a couple hours, we had discovered that five people had been missing from the area. No one knew why they were missing or what about them would make someone want to take them. The mayor had noted that they were people of all ages, an elderly man, two middle age parents, and two young adults. I was thankful to hear that no children had been grabbed, but it was still terrible to hear that people were taken and their lives used to heal Rose and Razi.

No one had any leads on where the people may be, but Violet and I almost instantly seemed to know that she must have been hiding in the town with how many she had plucked. While these people were not kind in the least, they didn't disserve to die as I'm sure they had.

A sudden pounding in my heart and coldness took over me while walking in the heart of town. It was so sudden, I'm not sure if the older champion could feel it, and I was confirmed right when she continued to walk ahead of us while she listed off things to her partners.

Parker was a short distance before me, he normally would be holding my hand and pulling me along, but I told him I needed some space for a few moments while I was thinking. He respected my wishes and tried to take as many mental notes for me on where Rose could be hidden in town.

But then I knew that wasn't the case…

I could feel his bloodlust… it wasn't here in the towns, and that's why I could barely feel it… Razi was in the mountains, most likely securing an escape route. My blood felt heavy and cold like ice as I felt his intentions. I'm sure he never meant to, but his emotions were too strong for his own good.

"Eira?" Parker turned back to me. I'm sure he could almost feel my swimming emotions in my heart leaking out into the air. He always had a knack for sensing how I felt, when I felt emotion that was. "Are you okay?"

"Just thinking… I'm going to go question a few people over here; I'll catch up with you in a minute."

His eyebrows furred up in worry. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." I nodded to him, trying to hold myself steady as to throw him off the track he surely would have been on. Parker was too good at reading me at times. It was incredibly had to fool him, since he spent all of his life devoted to making me happy, so he knew the little details in how to tell if I was okay, if something was wrong, or something sinister was brewing in my head.

My ploy had worked, however. Parker seemed to physically relax before me and smiled. "Don't be long, okay? Violet wants to tear apart this town."

"I won't." I hurried up to him and gave him a light kiss before running off behind a building. Once I was in the shadow of it, I submerged myself into the darkness, following after the power hungry demon that awaited me on the mountain's peak.

 **Third Person Point of View:**

Razi stood there on the entrance to the mountain, fully knowing that he'd fucked up. The Haleine girl, while it was only her, had sensed him up in the mountains, and he knew she was coming…

Rose was still blissfully unaware at this point, Razi could not sense that she had discovered Eira heading right toward him, ready to take him on. Razi gritted his teeth while his pokemon hung back in the shadows.

"Get ready you guys… she's coming… and we're on our own against her and her monster pokemon…"

"Hypno…" The perverted little pokemon stood next to his master's brother and gleefully grinned as he waited eagerly at the entrance. He was excited to play with the human girl, it had been too long since he'd had his fun, not since the victims that his master had allowed into the cave to feed both his master and Razi.

Soon the shadows began to move, the human and pokemon stood their ground while a figure appeared before them. Red eyes were the first to greet them as Eira Helaine stepped out of the shadows. Her eyes had a mad look to them while she kept her gaze on the single human in the caves.

"Hello Razi…" She raised her head to grin at him. "I found you…"

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Oh shit! Here we go people! And here's where the shit hits the fan! Will Razi die? Will Eira die? Will both of them die? Or their pokemon? What the hell is going to happen between these two powerful trainers on they're own?**

 **You're just going to have to stay tuned and find out!**

 **Also, I know this chapter is nearly a week late and I want to apologize for that people. I was on a long vacation, which I sadly neglected to tell you, but what I also forgot was that I'd be without internet to be able to update the chapter. I don't know if I'm going to have the next new one up by tomorrow, so I won't promise it, but I'm going to try my damndest to do it! So please hang in there for me! I love you guys so much so please don't give up on me!**

 **Please Review and Send in Questions! If you can forgive me!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	32. Revenge for the Innocent

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter_ _32: Revenge for the Innocent_

 **Third Person Point of View:**

The silence was eerie before them. Eira Helaine's words had even the madman before her slightly trembling. The girl before him was in the mindset of a ravenous killer. She cared little for what took place around her, most likely only what would startle her out of this current predicament would be if one of her pokemon were hurt or if a member of the IPHP League (or Parker) stopped her.

Razi stared down at the girl, even if his hands trembled at his side. He knew things were coming to a head, things were going to get crazy. The two of them would battle it out, with no one to stop them, until one of them were dead. Razi couldn't afford to die… he had Rose to look after and help through her madness until her dream was achieved. To bring back Team Rocket, to take over the world, and be with one of the only people who understood her this entire time: Giovanni Agunstino.

Eira had no intentions of backing down, even if he was an older man then herself. While he had another twenty or so years on him, they had spent nearly the same minimal time of being changeling within the last months or couple years. All she could feel was bloodlust as she looked at him, the raw anger that she'd felt since she lost her mother to him was still gnawing at her. Eira had only learned to compress it until she was able to face the monster that had ruined her family.

Now that she stood before him, all bets were off. Either one of them would be the victor today, but who was still the open question floating in the air.

All pokemon were released them, Eira's were all able to fit inside the cave opening while her ghost-dragon pokemon hung in the shadows of the cave, ready to strike at any moment. Razi cursed his luck before he quickly took on the form of his mismagius and began to float in the air, taking whatever measures he could in order to save his skin and buy time, or figure out a way to defeat the girl.

Eira was the first to attack. She shot forward like a bullet before her claw like hands (in the form of Shadow's changeling appearance) that were coated with a ghost like attack. She slashed at him, fully aware that ghost was somewhat weakened by its own type.

Razi leapt back and that was when the battle was on.

To the side of the humans began a battle between Hypno and Magma, the fire heavy hitter coming between the perverted pokemon and his trainer. The perverted pokemon could only giggle in glee as it looked behind Magma at the human girl who was overcome with rage at her opponent. Magma spent no time at all increasing his body heat and melting the floor in his fury at seeing the pitiful pokemon trying to get at his trainer.

Eleckly and Bouncy faced off against the pokemon persian. It snarled and swiped its claws at the champion's pokemon when they got near, but never did they hit. Bouncy was able to avoid being hit with her incredible speed and leg power, jumping all over the cave walls and floors to avoid the attack, but also get in close. After being startled by the slightly weaker of Eira Healine's pokemon, Elecky shot forward and bare her teeth at the normal type. Thuder cracked around the electric type before her teeth landed in the paw of the persian. It cried out, screeching even, before ripping itself free of the luxray and limping, but still able to battle.

A race was going on in the cave between two more of the fighters. Yanmega led the shadow dragon on a chase in the tunnels in hopes of finding a larger area to fight in. Diving through the tunnels and inhuman speed, the pokemon dodged as attacks came from the shadows around it. With a burst of speed, a desired location was found before the ghost pokemon emerged from the shadows in the larger space, more able to let out with the space granted. Shadow's eyes glowed red as she watched the feeble little pokemon before her zipping around in hopes of escaping her onslaught.

The last battle going on was the most intense (besides that of Magma and Eira's battle); Bubbly found herself matched against the ghost pokemon mismagius. Said ghost pokemon seemed to know not only ghost and dark moves, but electric as well. It shot out a thunderbolt attack, intending to harm the water type. What the ghost pokemon was unaware of was the fact that this water type was also a steel type. The electricity simply reflected off the armor of the water type before Bubbly smirked. The ghost pokemon whaled before the grass type move magical leaf came into play. In response, ice type moves were summoned and shot out of the water type's mouth. The leaves were frozen and the attack hit the ghost type head on. It screamed before hovering in the air with ice all over its body weighting it down. It glared at Bubbly, weighting its options.

Eira and Razi used the entire caves as their battleground. Not one of them hid back the bloodlust they each felt for the desire to spill each other's blood. It echoed into the air, both of them could feel it fueling them even further as they dived at one another. Razi's chosen form of his ghost type helped him hide in the shadows, but Eira was right behind him, hiding and attacking herself.

It was almost confusing to watch… the shadows within the cave were attacking each other. They grew or dimmed with the other battles that went on around them of lightning, ice, fire and ghost. It was a battle that could be felt everywhere, especially by the other champions and Rose Agustino…

 **Parker's Point of View:**

Something didn't feel right. It hadn't since Eira had gone off to question some other people. I wasn't exactly sure were she went, but it didn't feel like she was here. I may not have been a changeling as of yet (Violet mentioned that my powers would bloom in time) but I knew Eira, I knew how she felt. I'd always been connected to her, I knew her.

It was so wrong… these feelings… I'd never felt them before… They were so… hungry… lusting almost for the spill of blood. But it wasn't anyone's blood that had to be spilled, it was specific, almost like finding the perfectly aged cheese or wine to eat and drink every last bit. The feeling behind that desire is what scared me the most. It was blood thirsty…

I raced to turn where I was to find the champion in the middle of the square. She was chatting with her partners and Cameron while I had hung back, going over the details they had gathered about the missing people and where Razi and Rose could possibly be.

But I already knew that answer, Eira was with at least one of them… and I had a fair idea of who it was…

The champion suddenly went stiff. It was as if my voice had made her aware to the heaviness to the air. She had gone entirely still, not moving a single millimeter.

"Vi?" Alex was quick to shake her. "Violet, what's going on?"

"Sis? Is it Rose? Do you feel her?" Vince was demanding things out of her that she couldn't respond to.

Both of them tensed up as well. Only Cameron seemed left in the dark who couldn't feel much of anything. He looked between all of them worriedly before turning to me. Cameron was about to question me as well before he saw my shocked and worried face. He knew something was wrong then.

"Is it Rose?" Cameron asked. "Is it Razi?" He then stopped to think before realization hit him. "Eira?"

"Eira's with one of them!" I shouted out, finally able to speak and the others turned to look at me. "She's facing one of them right now! She's got away from us! She must have sensed one of them earlier!" I cursed. "I knew I shouldn't have let her go!"

"We have to hurry!" Violet turned to the others. "Vince, evacuate the island with the boys! Alex and I will go after her! Get a hold of the others and tell them to move it!"

Violet launched herself into the air after that with Alex right on her tail. She moved faster then I could see, but before she even left my sight, the emotions changed.

It was… achievement… victory…

 _Eira… what's happening?_

 **Rosalie's Point of View:**

The feeling that I'd felt from back in the heart of the cave didn't dwindle as I approached the boats. In fact, it only grew. I couldn't figure our exactly what was going on. Why was this making me feel this way? What was going to happen? Razi had been careful and hadn't let his emotions loose, so no now should have know about our location in the mountains.

I quickly arrived to the docks where I had taken over all the men here. It was too large of a job to keep all of them under, since it was a large crew, so I was forced to leave Gengar here temporarily while Razi and I were finishing up on the island. We just needed to gain our strength before we could head out and then our final plan would be put into action.

Long ago, Giovanni and I had stretched out across other regions in order to expand Team Rocket, but it was difficult to do such a thing with most of our resources being in only Kanto and Johto. The only location we succeeded in making a base in was Unova, where some of my old members were waiting for us, as well as another organization that we have teamed up with.

And along with them all, the most powerful pokemon that Giovanni had hidden away. His prized pokemon that would keep us from losing every again… But I would be the master, and it would take time for this pokemon to accept me as its master. Giovanni made sure that it would stay loyal, but only to him. This pokemon would only have one master, and at the time, I was sadly not it.

"Gar!" I turned my head as I approached the boat. My ghost pokemon had found me and approached with one of the hypnotized men behind her.

"Miss Rosalie… the boat will be ready to leave in only twenty minutes…" The man bowed his head before walking off. I silently chucked before turning to my pokemon.

 _Wonderful work Gengar, we should be leaving soon. I shall fetch Razi-_

I instantly paused in my words. Something was wrong, and it wasn't our boat…

I dared to look back at the mountain just as I watched it explode. My eyes widened and with no time to wait, Gengar and I flew back toward the mountain.

 _Razi… don't you dare die on me!_

 **Third Person's Point of View:**

Little did Rosalie know, things were turning drastic on the mountain above. With no fear of harming others, Eira Helaine went all out in her fight against Razi the murderer of her mother. The man in response was clashing with as much vigor as the girl was, equally trying to kill her and be rid of the Helaine family once and for all.

Razi's pokemon had banded together in the coming moments of the fight, unable to handle the pokemon on their own, they banded together to keep them back. All were gathered together in the heart of an abandoned room. While Eira's team kept them on the defense, Magma lumbered forward before stopping on the edge.

He had been holding it in all this time, the desire to burn something, the lust of blood spilling. It was something he had been holding in for a long while. But now that he was before the others and upon this terrain, he could do such a thing to the villain's pokemon that fought with him.

Magma had respected his trainers wishes to keep their hands clean. They had come close to killing before, but only now was it apparently okay to kill.

Magma could feel the heat below the floor. Star Mountain was an active volcano, where each veins was like hot blood running through the earth. Magma was excited, more excited then he had ever been in his life.

Magma called out to his team to hold back while he summoned the lava to the room. His team grinned seeing the lava emerge and surrounding the opposing pokemon.

Razi's pokemon as well as Hypno looked around at the lava in fear before trying to find a way of escape. Hypno was quick to teleport while Yanmega flew over it. Mismagius grabbed the shoulder of her partner Persian and the two of them teleported to the other side before the center of where they stood was pulled under the lava.

Magma continued to grin before he approached his opponent; Hypno narrowed its eyes at Magma before the two of them were hurling punches at one another. The psychic type was falling miserably, but he continued to fight, resorting to his psychic powers to restrain the fire type like beast.

However, not everything can hold back Magma...

The other four pokemon on Eira's team that were fighting Razi's entire group of pokemon were fairing better with the lava in the area. All of Eira's pokemon were used to high heats such as what the lava put off just being used to Magma in general. Mismagius teleported all of her team away before Eira's pokemon were left alone in the room of lava.

Only the hypno was left there. The pokemon belonging to Rosalie cursed before looking back to Magma only to be hit.

Magma grinned with endless malice as his fist hit the gut of the psychic type. Magna's fist was rammed so well into the ribs that the hypno was coughing up blood. The pokemon fell back while Magma push his fist forward until it shoved through the pokemon's chest. The pokemon gasped before its eyes rolled back and Magma then threw its body into the pool of lava before his feet.

"Mag..." The fire pokemon chuckled before moving back to where the rest of his team was to join up with their trainer.

Eira screeched as she threw her arms forward to hit Razi as he jumped away from her. The two of them had been battling for a short while, but for the two of them, each attack felt like another piece if eternity flew by.

Razi chucked his body upwards before striding down his leg onto Eira's head. She groaned as she does into the ground, but not before she became a shadow, faded into the ground, and hit her fist into his face. Razi cried out before flying back.

"Stay still so that I can kill you!" Eira launched herself forward once more but ended up in an empty space with Razi gone.

"I should have killed you when I killed your mother!" Eira leapt out of the way before knives shot past her and Razi caught her eye. He had teleported in the ceiling behind her.

Eira narrowed her eyes at the man. He had had quite the audacity to speak of her mother. It made her blood boil more then normal.

No, that wasn't her blood...

Eira blinked before she turned her head to see Razi's pokemon rush back into the room they were fighting, minus one. Eira's pokemon came shortly after that with a much more eager nature and lava following them. Magma was at the back, coated with blood on his right arm.

"Blood?" Razi questioned before he looked at the pokemon that were still there. "Hypno? Dead? Impossible!"

"Believe it Razi," Eira grinned over at him. "It seems Razi that my fire type has taken him down and desolved him into lava. Now..." she stepped forward, "it's your turn."

Lava descended around them then while Razi and his team backed away from it, lava not being in their category of preferred battleground. Razi's pokemon and himself backed away as the first death approached them.

"Like Rose will ever let you get away with killing her pokemon!" Razi snapped as he thought to how angry she would be without Hypno's talents.

Eira tilted her head in confusion. "Razi, Rose won't get here soon enough to save any of you. You're dying too for what you've done." She smirked as she changed her form to that of Magma. Her hair became flames and her body was coated in fire, mostly from her wrists. Her eyes turned fiery red and she control the lava around her. "You won't escape this time Razi, you're mine!"

Eira pulled at the lava around her to draw it in further. The earth groaned and bended to her will, allowing large amounts of lava into the room.

Razi flinched before turning to his pokemon. "Mismag-" he gasped as he was hit with the claws of the shadow dragon. Razi was prevented from leaving while a ghostly claw grabbed his body.

"I told you Razi..." Eira slowly approached him, walking through the pool of lava separating them. "You're not escaping me this time. You're mine..."

"Go!" He shouted out. Razi struggled as he looks to his pokemon. "To Rose! Get her to Unova!"

His pokemonon watched him worriedly before their pokeballs teleported off his belt and into Yanmega's arms. His pokemon vanished then and he watched them go just before a flamed fist reached through his chest. He gasped for air while his heart was ripped out and crushed in the hands of Eira Helaine. Razi stopped moving only moments later.

Eira didn't wait long for anything, needing to see him gone. She kicked his body into the lava and watched it fade from sight.

Eira finally had calmed down then and smiled, looking upon the sight with a new happiness within her. "I hope this put's you at ease... Mother…"

 **Rosalie's Point of View:**

Everything was shaking, lava was pouring from the mountains while I flew up the mountain side trying to get to Razi as quickly as possible. Every few feet I raced by felt like I was getting no where, and even in my own crazed state, I knew better then to teleport with lava being everywhere around me and within all the entrances to the mountain.

"Mis!" I halted in mid-flight just as my brother's pokemon approached me. All three of them were present, however, I noticed that neither my brother nor Hypno was with them.

 _Mismagius, where's my brother? Did Hypno get killed? It's not that surprising, but damn it, his abilities were useful-_

And that's when I felt it, the feeling of life force leaving a body. Normally I enjoyed this feeling ten fold, for how exhilarating it was to be the person to take that life away. But this was no ordinary life that I felt leaving us all behind. This life force that I could feel was someone close to me… someone that gave everything for me…

My brother…

My brother… he was _dead_ …

The silent scream that came from me echoed within all the pokemons' minds around me. I screamed for him, for my beloved brother who meant the world to me, and how my own terrible prediction had come true… he had died…

I couldn't feel anything even as the pokemon handed me their pokeballs, making me their new master. They teleported me to the ship and it left without a hitch, sadly, without my only flesh and blood that cared about me that I'd treasured all my life…

 _Razi… I'm so sorry…_ I sobbed.

 **Violet's Point of View:**

I already knew what happened before I even got to the mountain top. The energy that flew off of the mountain was beyond what many of us had ever experienced before. Such intense bloodlust I'd only see a couple times in my life myself, but with the way that Rose and Razi had messed up so many lives, one was bound to get a little… over the edge…

Eira had faced off against Razi on her own, with only her team to face him. Eira was strong, stronger then any of us had realized. What I never picked up on was that her changeling senses were much more concentrated then my own. She picked up on the small bursts of killing intent that Razi accidently sent out while we were in town. I didn't think much of it at the time due to the fact that many pokemon here in the mountains were more vicious then normal, often hunting each other for food.

I should have paid more attention…

Razi had been killed, as well as Rose's pokemon Hypno. I couldn't feel their life energies anymore and their bones (or what remained of them) were on the edge of the lava when we arrived.

Eira stood before a pool of lava, the termors were still going on, but she had clamed down to the point of looking at the pool of lava like a mirror. She brushed her blood covered fingers through her hair to straiten it out before dipping her hands into the lava, still as a changeling of her fire type. Most of the blood vanished, but the smell was still in the air.

Death was in the air.

"Violet…" Eira rose from her spot when she finally noticed me. "Do you see? I killed him." She looked over at me happily. "Do you think my mother would feel better now? Or my father?"

I looked at the girl before me, so happy that she had achieved her goal of killing off the murderer of her family. I didn't think she would be so happy after all of this, with her mother still being dead in the end, but here she was, smiling like she just won the Sinnoh League title all over again.

"I think you need a shower, a chance to calm down, and some time to speak with your father and Parker." I patted her shoulder while she gave me a confused look. "But you did good girl. You took down one of the two most wanted people in the entire world and one of their pokemon."

That caused the girl to once again smile at me. She walked around me to head back to where Parker and the others were with her pokemon right behind her. She looked tired and worn, like she'd just finished a war, but she was pleased. Eira wasn't a fool to get her hopes up on something that couldn't be done. She was just pleased to know that her struggle was more then halfway over. She had avenged her mother, but in order to prevent this from happening again, she would have to kill Rosalie too…

All of us would be there for that… many of us had grudges against that woman for what she had done to our families.

My fits slammed against the wall before I could stop it. Alex was there in an instant. There was no point to ask me if I was okay and he knew that, so he settled for holding me against his body.

"What is it Vi?" He held me tightly before I turned to look at him.

"I need to stay here for a while, get myself under control." I took a deep breath before kissing his cheek. "Alex… this will be our battleground… Eira and I."

I felt him nod against me. "You're going to have her join us. The boys as well?"

"She'll do better with Parker around, and I can't let my brother live it down that he's taken an interest in the boy Cameron." I hugged him once more before stepping back. "Let the others know, get her ready. Once she proves to me that she's ready and can handle this, she'll go with us."

Alex let go of me, only to steal another kiss. "Don't you worry, I will." He turned on his heels and headed for the exit. "Save a bed for me Vi!"

I smiled at him before he left and that face became serious. I needed to mentally prepare myself… Eira would be a tough one to handle…

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Oh my god, I can't believe I finally got that done! You guys wouldn't believe the crap I went through in order to try and get this chapter done! I even went to my favorite typing spot where I go nuts with typing out at camp where I put out tones of chapters! And it didn't work! (At least not for this story…)**

 **But now this one is done! Albeit there is a few mistakes and what not… but I was more worried about getting it there for you to see who is now gone from this story universe! I tried for so hard to get this done and then BAM! It hit me like a ton of bricks and I powered through it in less then twenty four hours! Not fair… I wish this had been done sooner…**

 **And because of the fact that I'm late with this chapter and my last one, the date for when I start posting again will be moved, depending on how many weeks back I have to push it because I need that time to catch up!**

 **But I'm hoping this is at least some of what you guys were hoping for! I killed off the damn Hypno! I'm so excited about that! Now I don't have to worry about typing him in! And Rose is on her own… oh boy…**

 **But now I gotta go work on the last chapter! The DAMN LAST ONE! Well… it could be worse! I'm hoping to get it done within the week, but we'll see… I'll see you guys later! Love you all and please done hate me! Send in Reviews and Questions! I'll be posting those soon too!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	33. Putting the Past Behind You

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter_ _33: Putting the Past Behind You_

 **Eira's Point of View**

Most people would tell you that fighting and death isn't the answer. That even if you kill someone, it won't bring you piece because you still have to deal with your suffering, and yet, I felt none of that. I felt relieved… the weight of my mother's death no longer was on my shoulders… I had freed us all from what we were imprisoned by with Razi being both the problem and the key.

He was gone, and that made us all free…

Of course, there were mixed reactions when I arrived back into town. Most of the people had been evacuated from the island, so only the IPHP League, Parker and Cameron, were here besides me. Parker was worried sick when he finally found me and held me close, practically crying from his worry. I felt bad for making him feel this way, but I couldn't deny the pleasure I felt from finally being free from my mother's death that loomed over my head.

Cameron was cautious when he saw me once more. He was with Vince at the time and the two of them weren't sure what to make of me. Most likely because they thought I should be this torn apart mess, but I wasn't. When Cameron came to terms with that, things seemed normal for the most part, which I was happy about. Once Cameron was at ease, so was Vince, who seemed to stay right by Cameron's side.

The members of the league seemed to be the easier ones to handle in the situation. Most of them understood the anger and hatred there was when facing Rose or dealing with what she had done to them and their families in the past. None of them felt any remorse for Razi and his death, but to know that one evil maniac was out of the world was incredible.

Now that things had moved on, I'd been staying on the island in the past couple weeks during the time that everyone wanted me to relax and calm myself. My father had come out to visit with the professor a few times to make sure I was alright, but also to thank me for doing away with that terrible man. He knew Mom would be happy to see me safe and to feel more at ease with him gone, not hurting others in their wake.

However, we still had one more person to worry about…

Since the time that I had killed Razi, we stayed on the island, and Violet had refused to leave the mountain since I had left it in disaster. From what Alex had relayed back to us, Violet apparently was waiting for me at the top. A formality of sorts that she does with all of her previous champions to see their worth. While she of course knew mine due to killing Razi, it was still something she was looking forward too, and so were my pokemon.

All of them were eager for that.

My mission that was given was simple, climb to the top of the mountain on my own, with no help from others outside of my six pokemon, and there I would battle Violet myself before joining her league of powerful trainers to follow after Rose. We would be heading to Unova, this would be the third region that Rose had traveled to in order to escape Violet herself and the many allies and friends she had made over the years.

The mountain that I was supposed to climb was now heated and coated in many places with lava. Parts of the mountain itself were also destroyed after the damage I had done, which would make traveling difficult. We needed to make it to the top without flying the entire way up. Flight was only allowed if there was a cavern, hole or water to get around. I'm sure that I would run into many ruined paths there.

"You got everything Eira?" Parker questioned as he looked over me and my bag again. It was too warm with the mountain still putting off fumes from the lava. I didn't need my winter clothes within the area anymore so I resorted to my summer clothing. I felt much more comfortable in them, but the heat bothered me little as it was after spending so much time with Magma and now being able to become a changeling of his form.

"Yes." I was ready, there was nothing more for me to wait on or check. I felt at peace, which meant I could focus on the battle that was soon to be before me. It made me happy that I could have a battle like this, one that didn't hold any sort of purpose other then to find a victor. There was no other purpose to the battle. It was more for fun, there didn't have to be a victor.

"Be sure to take note of any special pokemon in the cave for me." Cameron grinned while he held Cleffa in his arms, who cheered at me. "I know there are a few types that I haven't seen up there. But that's just a rumor. Check for me, okay?"

I nodded to him. Cameron had nearly filled out the pokedex of pokemon in this region thanks to all three of us working hard at it together. Only a select few as well as the legendaries that were around would be left to discover…

"Then I guess that means we have to go now…" Parker sighed before looking at the mountain and then at me again. He pulled me close and hugged me once more. "Be careful Eira."

Paladin pouted as he sat in Parker's arms. It took me a long while to convince the little pokemon of mine that it was too dangerous for him while he was so little still to travel in there. Paladin wasn't aware of how hot or terrible the weather was inside or how the blood still was caked onto some walls from our battle, as well as bones that stayed above the lava. I didn't want him to see that yet, I wanted his innocence to last as long as possible.

Once I had him convinced, I handed over his pokeball and himself to Parker, who would watch him and keep him entertained while I traveled in the mountain. It was likely to be a mostly boring journey as well, but I knew I would still hear it from my little one later on.

"I will." My voice was soft as it came out and Parker pulled back to see me smile at him. It finally made him relax and he decided then was a good time to go. He looked back at Cameron before the two of them made their way away from me. Vince was waiting for them to take them up to the top of the mountain where Violet had created a stage for us it fight on in the heart of the mountain.

And I couldn't wait to fight her…

Once the boys were out of sight, I took a step inside the heated cave, instantly hit with the memories of my fight…

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

The heat was intense. To feel how warm it was without the help of my changeling form was quite different from my normal human form. Magma and I had truly made this place into a nearly unlivable area…

I looked around the deeper area of the mountains that was walking through with Magma by my side. While all of my pokemon could handle the heat, Magma was the best choice to have travel with me since he could walk through the passages of lava that stood between me and the pathway I needed to travel on.

Another factor of the hot area left me with nearly no pokemon to face within the mountain. It made the trip most boring in a sense. All I had to look forward to was for me to face Violet at the top of the mountain who waited on me.

"Magma… we should be close to the top, shouldn't we?" I questioned my fire type. He nodded to me while quickly picking me up as we approached another patched of lava. I sat on his shoulder while he carried me over before I saw the world shake around us.

The mountain was shaking, a roar bellowed out in the caves and it caused my eyes to widen in surprise. I couldn't think of any fire types that could be here that could survive such a location other then other pokemon from the same family as Magma.

"Mag…" my fire type looked around the hallway we were in before his eyes gathered on a room that seemed to be hidden behind a waterfall of lava.

"What is it Magma?" I lightly touched the side of his face and he then chose to move forward. I was startled slightly by his movement, but I never faltered or was bothered by it.

Magma walked over to the room that he had looked at before. Upon close inspection, I could see the entire room had been covered with lava at one point before cooling off, most likely many years before I got to this mountain. It was entirely cool, even a draft managed to make it into the room and slightly chilled my skin, even with Magma keeping me warm.

I noticed that there was another pokemon on the other side of the room, one that I had never seen before. The pokemon itself looked like half of its body was made from steel that had been melted at one point or another. Other parts of its body looked like lava that was still active and bunched about. It walked on four legs and had two spikes of metal coming out of its head. It had a large mouth and teeth, entirely made of metal, before its eyes stood out to me, a near blood red color, reminding me of the heat of the lava.

"Gya!" The creature cried out and the ground shook around us. Magma held me close while the pokemon seemed to be angered by our presence.

"Who are you…?" I quickly pulled out my pokedex and looked up the pokemon.

 _Heatran, the lava dome pokemon. Its body is made of rugged steel. However, it is partially melted in spots because of its own heat. It digs in with its cross-shaped feet to crawl on ceilings and walls. Boiling blood, like magma, circulates through its body. It makes its dwelling place in volcanic caves. There are no known heatran nests. Please wait… updating legendary information…_

 _Maybe this was the pokemon Cameron was wondering about in the caves…_ I looked up from my pokedex to see the pokemon inching closer, trying to send us back. I blinked at it before I patted Magma's shoulder. He looked up at me calmly, but that changed to more sternness when I asked him to set me down.

"Mag." He refused.

"Magma, allow me to talk with Heatran." Still he refused me. "I can use your power now if I need to, Magma. I'll be fine."

Even that seemed not to faze him.

I sighed before I took on the traits of Shadow and faded through Magma's body. The fire type quickly reached for me, but his hand went right through me while I walked up to the opposing pokemon. Heatran snarled at me, but I refused to move, but had released my changeling form.

"Heatran, have we bothered you?" I blinked at the pokemon. "I am only traveling to the top of this mountain; I had no intentions of bothering you. I wasn't even aware that you were here or of your existence until a few moments ago."

The pokemon watched me; its eyes had turned cool. While it didn't make such menacing noises anymore, it still didn't give me an inch of leeway. I could see behind it was the path that led up to the final leg of the mountain where we would meet the others. I needed to be able to walk around this pokemon to make it to the top. I didn't want to fight an opponent such as this who merely wished to stay a secret.

The stare off between the two of us seemed to last for quite a few minutes before the pokemon finally moved. It turned its head, and its back, to me and retreated to the back of the room. It situated itself in a crater like spot and sunk down it. Once it was settled, it looked another time at me before closing its eyes.

The pokemon must have sensed me inside the mountain, or remembered me from my fight with Razi. When I activated the volcano in the area, perhaps that had woken it up and only now could it sleep with its mind at ease. I knew not many trainers traveled up here from the harshness of the terrain. We must have been very new.

"Come Magma, let's move on." My fire type lumbered behind me with a narrowed look to his eyes. He was upset with me that I hadn't listened to him and stayed on his shoulder. But I knew that would have only made Heatran worse off and more likely to attack.

"Mag…" He huffed out.

"I'm fine Magma." I gestured to the pathway. "Come, the others should only be a bit up ahead."

I could hear the rumbling in his chest that he was still quite angry with me, but he agreed and followed after me. Our little journey through the volcanic mountains would be coming to a close soon, and at the end would be Violet, who was just as eager to battle me as I was her.

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Magma and I made it to the surface of the top of the mountain. I could feel the presence of the others near by and I used that to help with my ascent. Once I made it to the top level, Magma shivered from the brisk wind that hit us compared to the humid volcanic area we were once in. He quickly returned himself and Elecky joined me, offering me a ride on her back.

With the help of Elecky, she was able to travel over the rest of the mountain and lead me back up to where the others were. She easily followed the scent of our close compaions and soon we were met at the entrance to a cavern. At the beginning of it stood Parker and Paladin, who was playing with Parker's arms.

"Eira!" Parker quickly was able to sense me in the area and he was quickly to his feet, pulling Paladin with him. My little baby pokemon struggled in his arms and raced up to me, catapulting himself into my chest. Once he was there, I felt calmer as I held him.

"Paladin… Parker…" I held Paladin close while Parker raced up to hug me as well, Paladin nearly crushed between us.

"I'm so glad you made it Eira! Violet's been waiting on you." Parker placed his arm gently around my shoulders after I had stepped off of Elecky's back. "You ready for this battle?"

"Yes." I nodded to him and looked ahead to the cavern. I could see light inside of it from a hole in the ceiling. I could see the other members of the league that were standing to the side as well as my father, the professor and our other friends. They all cheered when they saw me enter the cave.

I could see my opponent on the other side. Violet stood there, ready and waiting. Alex was next to her giving her a few words of encouragement or love before he gave a single kiss to her lips and stepped back. Violet turned her entire attention toward me and grinned.

"Didn't take you long to get here." Violet grinned before pulling out her first pokeball. "I imagine the trip up was pretty simple?"

"Fairly." I nodded to her before pulling out my pokedex and tossing it to Cameron. "Here."

"Huh?" Cameron blinked at me before he looked through the recent data and his eyes widened. He ran to his employer. "Professor! Cyrus! Look what Eira found!"

I smiled at him while they gushed over Heartran's data that I'd found. I turned back to look at Violet who shook her head. "I'm ready to battle you."

"And it's been too long waiting Eira. Let's go Sapphire!"

"Shadow."

Our two legendaries soon appeared on the battlefield and the other were quick to step back in fear of the power of my pokemon. While Violet may not have been as strong as me when she was my age, she had another five years of training over to me increase her power and make herself at my level or slightly higher.

This would be a good and eagerly awaited match…

"No need to hold back Eira." Violet grinned at me while throwing out a hand. "Sheer cold!"

"Shadow force!"

The attacks of ice and ghost type quickly move across the field. The bitter nipping cold even I could feel from my distance away, so I cold only guess how it was bothering my pokemon. The two attacks clashed before pieces of them from either side hit the other two pokemon. In that single move, I saw Shadow had fallen to the ground. The ice type moves would have taken her out in no time if they were powerful enough and it seemed Violet and her team was stronger then I had imagined.

But it seemed I was also fairly strong. Violet's pokemon grunted on the ground, attempting to get back up, but was failing terribly. Soon, the pokemon just collapsed, Shadow following after her.

I was right, this would be a good match…

"I knew I was right about you." Violet grinned and returned her first pokemon before pulling out another. "Now I hope you can keep up with the rest of my team, go Ruby!"

I smiled and threw out another pokeball. "Bouncy."

Both pokemon jumped out onto the field, the bug type fluttering around on its wings while Bouncy twirled and leapt around.

"I haven't done this in a long while, but let's do a speed match." Violet grinned up at me. "Ruby! Build up as much speed as you can before crashing into that pokemon!"

"Siz!" the pokemon took off and in no time at all as it flew through the air, its speed picked up and its body began to leave my line of sight, myself unable to keep up with it.

"Bouncy, follow the same tactic, bounce around the area and build up speed before hitting her with all you have!"

"Lu!" My pokemon took off into a run and jumped over Violet's head before copying the similar tactics as her scizor. Bouncy leapt off the walls and soon I couldn't keep up with her speed either.

The two of them leapt all over the room, crashing into walls and shattering them, turning our encased battlefield into an open arena with rubble all around before the two leapt forward and slammed their bodies into one another. The sound that went off when it happened sounded much like a gun shot. The two bodies fell backward and landed on the ground, knocked out and wounded from the force of impact.

"Damn… I haven't seen a pokemon that fast in a long time…" Violet returned her bug type before grinning at me. "I imagine I'll be facing that beast of yours next?"

"Of course." I smiled at her before I threw out my fire type's pokeball. "Magma!"

"Let's go Zircon!" I quickly saw her dragon pokemon appear before her and it cried out before looking at Magma with a playful face.

"Rao!" It grinned.

"Go on Zircon! Use draco meteor!"

"Magma, fire blast!"

The two attack quickly lit up our battlefield as they launched themselves at one another and they both exploded. Both were hit with attacks from each side. The dragon pokemon instantly feel, its body covered in burns while Magma struggled to stay up on one knee. He grinned from the thrill, that he had just survived an incredible attack like that and could handle another.

"Damn… good try Zircon, we'll get him next time!" Violet returned her pokemon and pulled out another. "Your fire type won't be standing for long Eira! Go Chalcedony!"

Her dark type came out then, in the shadow of the room I could barely see him if it wasn't for his eyes and glow spots. It narrowed those blood colored pupils at my pokemon who simply sighed, which sounded a lot more like a hiss.

Violet grinned. "Take it out Chalce! Use dark pulse!"

"Bre!" Violet's pokemon cried out before a black wave of energy came hurling out of his body.

"Magma, fire blast again!" My fire type threw out both of his arms and shot bright flames across the field in order to hit the dark type. His attack flew over the dark one aimed at the eevee evolution, and the dark one hung close to the ground and slithered under the scolding blast to attack the fire type.

The two attacks hit and the dark type was hurled to the opposing wall, or what remained of it. The umbreon was knocked entirely out while my pokemon was thrown off his feet. Magma groaned and finally gave into the attacks he'd suffered from and fell to the ground. Once he was down, both Violet and I returned our pokemon and she grinned from the thrill, and I couldn't help but feel the same. It was exhilarating…

"No one's been this strong against us before…" I couldn't help but feel the swelling of pride and excitement in my chest. "It's wonderful…"

"I know, right?" Violet chuckled from the other sided of the field. "Two pokemon left Hon, you ready?"

"Always."

"Go Amber!"

"Let's get them Elecky."

Our two electric types came out and snarled at each other on the field. Both of them sparked as the two of them were sizing each other up. After letting them have their moment, I saw Violet's eyes nearly glow in excitement as her eyes met mine.

"Go Amber! Thunder!"

"You use thunder as well Elecky!"

The two pokemon cried out and thunderclouds quickly covered the skies above. They turned black and in a flash did we see the lightning strike. One of them hit Elecky head on and the other hit the raichu. The two pokemon cried out as their bodies were fried by the electricity and were hurled back from the battlefield before us.

 _Only one left…_ One look at Violet while she looked at her own pokemon showed that we didn't have long left of this amazing battle. Only one pokemon remained left for us to battle with. Our first pokemon…

I returned Elecky and pulled out Bubbly's pokeball. "We can do this… go Bubbly!"

"Come on Amethyst! I know you want to blast her!" Violet threw out her own pokeball and soon came out her shiny fire type. Her pokemon roared out Bubbly screeched while the two stared each other down.

"Blast burn!"

"Hydro cannon!"

The two attacks clashed, but instead of an instant explosion that would have wounded our pokemon, a heavy fog covered the field as well. I turned myself and Paladin away from it while the fog took over the field and I heard something crash. I dared to look back and everything went silent. I couldn't see my own pokemon, but I could see Violet's. Her pokemon was kneeling, its head hanging down from the powerful attack before I saw it fall from its spot. When it hit the ground, everyone, even Violet, looked on in shock.

"Did she beat Violet?"

"No way! Amethyst fell?!"

"Wait! Look!" We all turned to look at my side of the field. Upon the ground I could see a body besides that of Violet's pokemon. It was Bubbly, entirely knocked out.

She had been beaten before the shiny charizard had fallen.

I sighed, but the loss didn't bother me, in fact, I felt calm. I was relieved that there was someone stronger then me, making sure that I had someone strong to face and keep myself and my pokemon entertained.

"Well, that was well worth the long wait." Violet came over to my side of the room and shook my hand that I held out for her. "You ready for the final step?"

I tilted my head at her in confusion. "Heading overseas after Rose?"

"No, that's after this step." She pulled me in close for a hug and whispered in my ear. "You should take some time to say good-bye to your father. Its not fair if you leave without a word."

I nodded to the woman, but didn't respond. She was right in her own way, and I was glad she said something. I did need to say my good-byes to my father, and I hoped he would take it alright…

Because there was a possibility that it would be a while before I would return home to him…

 **HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch**

Once everyone had congratulated me on the battle with Violet, even if I hadn't won, we arrived back at the professor's lab in order to have a small party to celebrate my joining of the league and as well as an opportunity to say good-bye to my father. He was the only family I had left (besides Parker and his family) and someone that meant everything to me, and I wanted to say goo-bye in a special way.

But I think he knew that, because he seemed to be trying to avoid me…

Every time I wanted to talk to my father, he would always call out as if someone had spoken to him and he would talk to me later, but that moment never came. It made me upset that he didn't want to hear of my leaving, and I knew it would be hard on him since he just came back into my life and the house that belonged to us he would be facing on his own

I had finally had enough as we were halfway in the party. Violet knew of the situation that was going on between my father and I at the time, so she dragged him off outside of the party and forced him to stay there while I walked out.

Once my father saw me, instant tears began to fall from his face. It instantly made me regret what I was doing, but I knew what I had to do in order to keep everyone safe in this region. I had to help others, like I had when I took out Razi. I didn't want others to suffer like I had…

"Papa…"

"I know you have to go…" His head lowered and while he looked away from me, Violet left us alone so that we could have our moment, knowing it was hard on us both. "I hate to see you go, after all that's happened… but I know you need to…"

"Mom would have wanted me too…"

He nodded. "I know she would have…"

I looked away from him. "Am I doing the right thing?"

"Of course you are, I'm just worried for you and wish you didn't have to go…" My father stood up from where he was seated and pulled me tightly into a hug. "I just got you back… I've missed out on eight years of your life, nearly nine, and I intent to make up any moment that I can…"

"We will… when I get back…" I hugged him tighter. "I love you Papa…"

"And I love you too baby girl…" I felt his tears fall into my hair. "Promise you'll let me know how your doing?"

"Of course…"

"And treat your pokemon well."

"I will…"

"Don't put your tattoo in a strange place."

I pulled away from my father and gave him a angry look. He chuckled and hugged me once more. "Sorry, I needed a laugh. Put it wherever you want, I just wanted to see a reaction."

My face softened. "You don't need to tease me to do that…"

"Then give me a smile, and I'll feel better about you going."

I felt myself laugh behind my hand, but my father moved it away from my face. What he saw seemed to please him, while a pleasing smile sat upon my lips.

I would be okay. I _was_ okay. It was then time to move on, and go to the next location we knew that Rose was at, and hopefully would be able to take her down.

 **Witch's Note:**

 **Okay, that took FOREVER! That wasn't fair! I tried and tried for these last few weeks and it only finally came to me in this last day.**

 **But damn it, I can finally say that this story is OVER! Eira's Adventure has finally come to an end and I can begin working on the next story! Hopefully I can put some space between us so that way I can keep up with posting and make things easier for you guys.**

 **Thanks to all of you who stayed with me through the weeks that I wasn't able to post! Thank you guys so much for believing in me! But now that we've come to the end, you know what that means!**

 **Its time for the Q's and A's page! I'm so excited! I have lots of questions, but I hope I may get a few more! I plan to update it on Wednesday after giving everyone a chance to ask any final questions before I get to close this story entirely for good!**

 **See you guys soon and I love you so much! Please Review and Send in Questions!**

 _ **Halloween Witch**_


	34. Q's and A's

_Pokѐmon Journey IV: Eira's Adventure_

 _Chapter 34: Questions & Answers_

Wow… can you guys believe we got through story four? This is more then half way! Two thirds of the story series done! I'm so happy that we've been able to make it this far, but I'm also sad that there's only two more stories to go… but I can't cry right now! We still have so much more to do! Like finish off this story! So we got lots of questions and the characters and I have lots of answers! So let's get started!

This Question is from _aleking74_ :

Q: The only thing I want to know is why is Vince gay? Or rather how did it happen?

Vince: Why is that the first question on this Arceus damn thing?!

Me: Vince, we don't have time for you to whine and complain! Get to answering their question!

Vince: What do you want me to tell them? It just happened okay?! I never liked girls much and I never was really interested in them! (He sighs) There's a disconnection, okay? I'm okay with being friends with them and all that shit, but… I just can't see myself with a girl… I hate to be childish… but their just gross in their own way… and don't even get me started on periods and shit! Alex can deal with that crap, not me!

Me: (Sweat drops) Okay, that works… I think…

This Question is from _Articunomaster_ :

Q: Cool story, but when you go to Unova could you please give the character a happy beginning and not all this sadness?

A: I can't really promise you anything there. All of my characters have to have gone through some sort of suffering, their lives can't be perfect or else things just aren't relatable or excruciating. However, I will say that the next character, Piper, will have a different upbringing then the other girls. So expect something different, but I can't promise it will be all sunshine and rainbows.

This Question is from _Ryex_ :

Q: Quick question, when are you going to have a character have a happy start up, and then just let the actions of Rose and Razi make them slowly go insane as they try to stay happy and upbeat? Or are you going to keep with the same theme and have things be fucked up right off the bat?

A: Like I noted before, not all of the characters are going to have the perfect up-brining. However, with our next character, Piper Theron, she will have a different up brining. I don't want reveal exactly what has happened to her before right off the bat, nor do I want to show how her family life is, but I think, with the way I've got the story planned, she will appear to be a bit more "happy" then the other girls had before her.

These Questions are from _crazywriter9_ :

Q: Will Levy be a trainer in this?

A: We're almost there! She's twelve now! One more year before she's legal!

Q: I bet Rose is in the shadows plotting only to get stopped again. You mad Rose?

Rose: (Attacks the glass silently, not even bothering to speak.)

Me: (sigh) Here we go again… can we not rile her up too much? We still are too earlier into this!

Q: How will this affect Rose? (Losing Razi)

A: Right now, as you can see, Rose is entirely numb after losing Razi. When she comes to terms with his death, it will be a fury like no other. But it will also be a problem for our favorite characters. With Rose feeling nothing but numbness, none of the league can pick up on where she might be. Yikes…

Q: How will the next protagonist survive, because at this point it seems like Rose learned that it's not the best idea to let these ladies gain strength?

A: Like I said before, Rose is numb. She most likely will let this trainer get away from her until she explodes down the line.

Q: What will the interactions between N and Rose be like given the fact that he can understand pokemon?

A: I'm actually really shocked by this question, so I'm excited to see this through! If I remember correctly from my research on N, he is surprised by his father figure/Ghetsis when he tries to take over the world by making everyone release their pokemon back into the while, using N and what he stood for to get to that point with the main character the only one to stop him. Because of this, I don't believe there will be any notification that Ghetsis has Rose in his care, because that would be against what N stood for. I hope that makes sense….

Q: Will N be a changeling?

A: But that would be telling! XD You'll find out in the next book!

Q: How is Levi? Are you still thinking of doing a side story on her? (Please do! I really want to see what you do with her character!)

A: Levy, like I said in the previous statement, is only a year away from being a trainer, which means she'll be able to help out the league and not be controlled by the contract her mother signed with Violet all those years ago when she was about seven or eight. I have been thinking more about Levy having her own story, and the idea really appeals to me, the only problem, I'd have to do extensive research to form any sort of a plot line for what I'm thinking of for her, so when the first six stories are done, I'll be working on that while posting other varieties of stories I've been working on!

If you or anyone else is interested in what I'm working on, let me know! I've got two intensive series I'm working on that have been stealing every moment of my life! (besides this series)

Q: Will anyone be able to surpass Violet?

A: Of course! She won't always be at the top! But I'm not saying when or who will beat her! There's still so much more for you guys to see!

Q: How will the Vince's relationship play out?

A: But that would be telling! It's too soon to know about that! We'll just need to watch them and see what happens!

This Question is from _FantasyLover88_ :

Q: That reminds me, are you doing the Black/White plot or the Black 2/White 2 plot? Or are you going to combine them in a way?

A: I'll be focusing more on the Black/White plot more since I didn't care for Black 2/White 2 at all. My little brother liked it, but I didn't while watching him to see if I wanted to get the game. Some small elements from the second game will be included, but not many; we'll mostly focus on the first game only and that plot. It plays better into Rose and her shut down, which will leave all the champions and their partners freaking out.

These Questions are from _WhimsicalOblivion_ :

Q: For Cleffa: Hmm, how do you feel about your daddy and Vince being 'together?' Or do you not know yet? XD

Cleffa: Clef? Cleffa clef? (She looks to Cameron who has a red face and laughs at it.) Cleffa!

Cameron: Don't ask stupid things like that! You'll confuse her! (He turns his head to hide the thick red blush on his face.) Besides, neither of us know what you talking about…

Q: For Rosie: Who would you say you hate the most out of the four right now?

Rose: (Once again she refuses to speak and attacks the glass between her and everyone else.)

Me: This is getting us no where, don't ask her questions right now!

Q: So I assume that you'll be taking the customary two months to plan and pre-write? Call me a newb, but I'm still not quite sure how long in between chapters you take, so is it a month, or is it a week, or does it depend?

A: Oh it's no trouble at all! And you're not asking stupid questions, sometimes I forget when people join my story that they may come in really late and aren't used to the pattern. So let me break it down for you and others that probably want a solid answer to those questions.

So I always post at the earliest I can on Saturday morning, American Eastern Time Zone hours. I post once a week until the story is completed. Once the story itself is competed, I wait another two days until the next upcoming Monday to post the Q's and A's page that goes with the story (as well as give other readers such as yourself a chance to send in any last minute questions such as this!) Then, once this page is posted, I go on a two month vacation to not only have a bit of a break, but also to catch up and begin new work.

I was doing really well, about the time I started writing Jezebel's Voyage did I post the first chapter of Violet's Trial. But now look at the time; it's caught up with me! Though I can say that I've got a new wave of writing starting to flow through me and chapter one is already done for Piper's Quest!

Oh and just for you and the other readers to know, I've already got the entire outline of the rest of the two stories planned, I just need to write the chapters.

These Questions are from _Defender31415_ :

Q: A water starter? Breaking the pattern, eh? Interesting.

A: Yes! We finally have a break to the pattern! I always loved Piplup the best out of all the pokemon starters of the fourth generation, even if I always had trouble battling with it with the strange combination of steel and water. Still loved the species through!

Q: Is Magma a shiny? Whether he is or not, he's a beast!

A: No, Magma is not a shiny, but I'm glad you pointed out how strong he was, because when I started work on this story, I wanted a main character who didn't have much of any confidence in herself and was shy and reserved while her pokemon were entirely the opposite, powerful, protective and intimidating. The guys that are also on Eira's team are also my favorite to use in that game!

Q: Why did you write Eira in the way you did?

A: Oh I love it when you ask me questions like that Defender! And to answer it, I've always struggled with characters that were much softer and quieter. Since my own personality is the basis for some of the more strait forward girls, I wanted to try something new and work with it. However, it wouldn't be a good story if I left it at that! With Eira, I wanted to change the pace, have someone who didn't announce all of their emotions or thoughts right off the bat. Sure, we knew about them, but she didn't voice them to others, often leaving them in the dark about most things. I find it difficult because then I need to remember what she's saying to herself or only thinking compared to what she tells others. Parker can normally read her well, so I can get away with it there at moments, but Cameron has only known her for a year or so, which makes it difficult.

Q: Question for Alex: Gwyn and Jezebel have hinted that when all this stuff with Rose is over, you and Violet might tie the knot. Have you been having any thoughts along that line?

Alex: (Whispering) I'll tell you guys, but you have to keep it a secret from Violet. I actually _want_ her to be surprised! (The male looks around for the woman he loves and sees she is not present at the time.) Okay, so yeah, I've been thinking it for a long while actually. I know we might seem young to a lot of you people, but we knew each other as friends for years and have been dating for five, so we're legal before you start spitting any crap about us "not being ready" or anything like that. I love everything about that woman, from what works between us to how she drives me so mad I could kill myself. The only problem is Rose. I know Violet wouldn't feel good about having a happy affair like a wedding or anything else like that until Rose is either locked up or dead, so we have to deal with that woman first before we can do anything. And I hope it's soon… I'd hate to be old and grey before I get to ask Violet to marry me…

Q: Question for you: Did you mean for Eira's team to grow so fast?

Me: I actually don't believe its fast at all… Her pokemon are evolving around the normal rate for any trainers, maybe you may be thinking it's so fast because of all the emotional things she going through? I'm not entirely sure, but Eira is right on track, while her three most powerful ones she has through most of the book evolve after every so many chapter, it took Bouncy seventeen chapters for her to evolve and Paladin didn't even get to evolve in this story! So I don't really think its fast, maybe its just the way you perceive the story?

Q: Tristan, WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU, SCARING EIRA LIKE THAT?! Just... why? It seemed unnecessary.

Tristan: (Bows his head lightly and rubes the back of it.) I am deeply regretful and sorry for the mistake I made. I still… struggle with speaking with others outside of the group. The league understand the way that I communicate and tend to be a bit more understanding of myself if I make any mistakes. However, with Eira, she was new at the time and I was fearful of her falling prey to Rose's plans and suffering, so I wished to show her how much she can harm others… but in doing so, I believe I pushed things too far… which was my own fault…

Q: Jez, I know you helped Eira deal with those crazy coordinators. Did that bring back any memories from Lilycove?

Jezebel: Okay, so it wasn't really at first that I thought about it, since it was the heat of the moment and taking care of Eira and her friends, but while we were escorting those kids to be dealt with, it was like my first contest came back and hit me square in the face. It was a similar situation, but still different in its own way. I'm just glad Mattie and I made it there when we did, since I figured Elecky would've torn that asshole apart if we'd been there any later. And that wouldn't have sent well on Eira's shoulders.

Q: One thing I don't get, though: Changelings seem to have this weird sixth sense that lets them detect others like them, and apparently emotions too. How does that work?

Me: Defender! I love you and your amazing questions! But I must admit that I'm not a changeling myself, so I must pass this over to another character, perhaps Eira? Since she's the most sensitive out of the changeling?

Eira: … I suppose so…

Me: (Slaps her back) Come on Eira, we got lots more to do, don't stall too long.

Eira: Okay… Being a changeling… it heightens all of our senses as you know… but what is also heightened is an apparent sixth sense which deals with sensing emotion… I guess you could relate it to an empath of sorts… We are able to feel and sense emotions that aren't are own from those around us. The stronger and more into this sixth sense you are… the more you can pick up, even when they are hiding or trying not to express any emotion internally. Violet has a fairly high one with her always paying attention to those around her, but she didn't grow up with this kind of ability. Parker and I were always using this sixth sense before we became changeling… which is why mine is highly more fine tuned… and Violet will make great use of that going after Rose.

With changeling… you can feel the difference between a normal human or pokemon… they _feel_ entirely different, you can sense the power floating through the air around them and spreading out, almost like a territorial thing that pokemon would do. As you get closer, you invade their energy and you can sense them. It's… a bit difficult to explain further, but I think you may understand a bit more…

These Questions are from _EmberVR_ :

Q: Why do I have a feeling that the shadow in her dream has something to do with Darkrai?

A: I got no idea how you came up with that, but I can kinda see the connection… The dreams had to do with Shadow (Giratina.)

Q: And is Eira based on Dawn and her mother based on Johanna from the canon pokemon series?

A: Well… yes and no… I more base them off of the characters inside the Platinum game, that's where I base all my characters off of. The stylization is the same for my characters and those from the game or the anime, but I always love to give them a different personality. It's no fun if there's no problems or if their prefect and sweet all the time!

This Question is from _TimeLordMaster108_ :

Q: Since the sixth story is going to be based on X and Y does this mean you're going to skip Black 2 and White 2 or are you going to incorporate elements of that game into the fifth story?

A: I am going to be skipping both Black 2 and White 2. I didn't find them too interesting as the same region with a new plot to them; it just… was weird and something I didn't care for compared to the actual story line of Black and White. I will, however, integrate some of the characters. The main characters of Black 2 and White 2 will be related to the main characters of Black and White (the four main characters of story 5) in some way and be apart of the story in their own way, but as children two or more years younger then the main characters, who will start at the normal age of thirteen.

These Questions are from _namelesspenname_ :

Q: Also, poor little Bouncy. Can I feed those two to a hungry Garchomp?

Me: That we can easily do! (Finds a starved garchomp and hangs the two horrible males over him by a thinning rope.

Males: Don't drop us! We're sorry!

Me: (Drops them anyway…) XD

Q: It feels off to me that she has nearly killed multiple people, and yet is being covered for each time by Violet. Will Parker or Cameron finally try to stop her?

A: Okay, I think it's really cool that you brought up this really deep question. With Eira, she's one of the most emotional an internal characters that I've written, so to have issues like this happen, I'm glad you brought this up. Violet is covering Eira each time since she knows that she needs to keep going on her own journey, much like she and the other two girls had to become her own person. Violet is known for doing terrible things for her cause against Rose, but not a young girl. Violet takes the blame knowing fully well that no one will question her from not only past experience, but also from her position as leader of the IPHP League.

Now in the case of Eira, she is terribly bothered by the way the she hurts people and even comes to a cross road where she thinks she should stop being a trainer, twice. She is afraid of what she can do, but she continues on with the constant support of her friends and the hope that she will be able to calm down and control her emotions one day. Her emotions are explained more in the chapters leading up to the end of the dealing with Team Galactic, but Eira had been abused by her mother once her father had left, and that left its own scar, as well as losing her father. It made her unstable as a child, so she shut herself off and it takes her nearly the entire book to get over that and longer.

These Questions are from _253910_ :

Q: Will Rose ever get a legendary? Maybe Darkrai or Spiritomb?

A: I'm actually _really_ happy that you asked that question! And as I'm sure you saw in the story, Rose _did_ actually get a spiritomb to help her on her journey! (However, I will note that it's not a legendary… just a rare pokemon…) However, her legendary had not yet been revealed. But she will be getting one! It will be soon! In the next story her powerful, evil partner shall be revealed to all and good luck trying to stop it!

Q: Wouldn't Eira have technically won though, since she still had Paladin? (Eira vs. Violet)

A: I wasn't expecting to see the question, so thanks for brining it up! And no, even if Paladin was still active on her team, and even with him being in her arms, Paladin is not technically strong enough to face any pokemon yet, the only one he's faced being Buck right before Eira was crowned champion. He also didn't go with her on her trip through the mountain, so he wasn't qualified to battle or be considered an opponent against Violet's pokemon. Eira has not had a chance to train him yet and for him to even be considered a battling pokemon, he would need some form of training, which he did not have.

This set of questions is from myself, _Halloween Witch_ :

Q: After all that you've put us through and Rose isn't dead yet, what is going to happen in the next story?

A: Okay, so the next story we get to deal with another type of character, more of a joker of sorts with Piper Theron who begins her journey as well as her twin brother Everett, and her two best friends Isadore Gyan and Isabella Adhira. So we have yet another story with four characters! But I think we'll have fun with this one! The twins like to prank others! Mostly Izzy… (sorry Izzy!) And I'm not telling you what we'll have for another type! It could be any of the three, but you'll see (I had two favorite pokemon of this batch so I had a hard time picking which one I wanted until within the year I posted this story…)

But now let's see the summery!

 _Pokѐmon Journey V: Piper's Quest:_ Another day has come for a trainer to start their journey, and Piper Theron is no exception. She receives her first pokemon and heads off into the Unova region, easily stepping into the role of a good trainer, but then begins to question herself when a group of protesters claim that pokemon are being discriminated if owned by a trainer and all trainers should release their pokemon. Is Piper's bond strong enough to face this shocking hit or does she give up her dearest friends forever?

Q: When will we expect this story to be posted?

A: So like always everyone, I will take my two month break to catch up on work (since you guys are catching up fast! No fair!) before I start posting the next story, however, it will be posted on November 5, 2016. I had originally set this date for October 8, but with how late I was to finish this last story, I had to change that date. I've already done so on my page, so you guys can check that out on my page! Hopefully I'll have an ideal date for the sixth book as well soon!

Q: There has been notice of a seventh season coming out this year, do you plan to do a seventh installment of this story series or not?

A: Someone had mentioned that there was a seventh season that just came out (and yes I did know about it, I am a fan regardless!) on social media. However, as of right now, I **do not** plan on making a seventh book. I have the time line for all of my characters mapped out and the major events of what's taking place already in place. I'd have to see the new game first to see if I wanted to continue onto it, but because I'm already so set, I don't want to mess up my plot. So I do not believe that I will be making a seventh book. If I do for any reason, it may be a spin off or set of one shots or something along those lines or maybe a special story just for Levy. (After all, since Levy has an entire team of just legendaries, it means she communicates with them, I could focus solely on that, and I'm leaning towards it…)

But now I have to say good-bye… for the fourth time… bummer…

But before I go, I wanted to give as quick shout out to my new beta reader _namelesspenname_! I'm so happy that they joined me on this quest and now we get to move onto the next big adventure!

But anyway, we'll see each other soon! Love you all and can't wait for you guys to see the next book and what the hell Rose is going to do without her precious little brother!

 _ **Halloween**_ _**Witch**_


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